Immigration Reform News 2013: Progress for Bipartisan Bill in House Could Mean Vote is Pushed Through Against Republican Objections

Even as the sequester cuts begin, there seems to be some progress on the equally contentious issue of immigration reform.

Senate Republican backers of the bipartisan bill that provides a pathway to citizenship for many of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country have met with their counterparts in the House of Representatives to try to win support for the measure.

Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina spoke with more conservative members of the House in an effort to sway them. While nothing is certain, McCain seemed pleased after the meeting, which included several strident immigration opponents.

"Senator McCain was glad to have the opportunity to update key House members and get their advice and recommendations on this important effort," said Brian Rogers, McCain's communications director. "He looks forward to continuing these conversations as we move forward."

Recent developments in the House show a weakening of the voting bloc that may bode well for supporters of reform.

On Thursday, the House allowed a vote on the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, which passed even without much Republican support. Previously, the House leadership would never have let the vote move forward if they weren't sure of victory.

As similar result occurred when the House voted to approve relief funding for Hurricane Sandy victims. Only 49 Republicans supported the measure, but it still passed with overwhelming Democratic support.

The same thing may happen with immigration reform.

In the case of the Sandy vote, refusing to bring the bill to a vote would have been too politically toxic for the Republican leadership, as well as for representatives of hurricane stricken areas. Rep. Peter King of New York nearly led a coup within the House pushing the vote through, and he was still unable to win over many Republicans from other areas of the country, whose conservative base has no love for the mostly-liberal enclaves hit hardest by the storm.

In the same way, it may turn out that the Republican leadership cannot prevent an issue like immigration reform from coming to a vote, not after Republicans lost 71 percent of the Latino vote in last year's presidential election, and not when some influential conservatives support the measure.

And if Republicans cannot prevent a vote, Democrats need only a few like-minded voices from across the aisle to join them.