Immigration Reform News 2013: Bill Likely To Pass In Senate, Future Far Less Certain In House

As comprehensive immigration reform comes to a vote on the Senate floor this week, even the strongest opponents of the bill agree it will likely pass in the Senate with at least 70 votes. 

The future of the controversial immigration reform plan spearheaded by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and the "Gang of Eight" is less certain, however, in the conservative, Republican-controlled House of Representatives. According to Sen. Rand Paul (R-K.Y.), a vocal opponent of reform, the legislation hasn't got a chance of passing in the House.

"It's dead on arrival in the House," Paul said. "The House is much closer to me."

An amendment added to the bill last week by Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) helped secure extra Republican votes in the Senate. The Corker-Hoeven amendment would invest over $30 billion to significantly increase the number of patrol agents and construct 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border in a bid to keep illegal immigrants out.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a highly conservative Republican, is another major critic of the bill and he has reportedly argued that in its entiretey, the statute is a mistake. He maintains that Congress should approach immigration reform with a step-by-step process, beginning with successfully securing the U.S.-Mexican border.

"It could take years to implement the border security measures," Lee said.

He further insisted that although Rubio and his cohorts "crafted the bill with the best intentions" they still "failed."

According to a report from ABC News, assuming the legislation passes in the Senate, the future of the bill depends largely on Republican leadership—specifically Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Historically, the Speaker of the House will only introduce a bill to the floor of the House if it has the majority support of his party, which, in this case, is unlikely. Recent comments made by Boehner do not bode well for the future of the current immigration reform bill.

"I don't see any way of bringing an immigration reform bill to the floor that doesn't have the majority support of Republicans," Boehner told the media at a recent press conference on Capitol Hill.

A large portion of the opposing Republican viewpoint seemingly stems from a section of the bill that includes a route toward citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States.

However, according to one of legislators responsible for the bill, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), if these largely Republican conservatives continue to oppose offering undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship, those who do support reform are more than likely to fight back.

"If the House resists, I think we'll see a day like we did in the civil rights movement," Schumer said during an interview on Univision's "Al Punto."

"I think we'll see two million people on the Mall in Washington, D.C., and on the stage will not just be liberal Democrats, they will be the business leaders, the agricultural leaders, the cardinals from the Catholic Church, the leaders of the evangelical churches, all saying this is the right thing to do."