High-Skill Immigration Reform Is Dead This Year – Again

High-skill immigration reform failed to become law in 2013. The Senate managed to pass a comprehensive bill around a year ago that went precisely nowhere in the House. When the new year kicked off, there was some optimism that we could get something done. Misplaced optimism, really. With this Congress, having a positive outlook is something akin to masochism.

President Obama, today in a Rose Garden address today, stated that in a recent conversation, Speaker of the House John Boehner indicated that the House will not vote this year on comprehensive immigration reform. The speaker responded with a statement that didn’t deny the claim.

So, that’s that. Don’t even bother sticking a fork in it, I doubt it would be too tasty.

High-skill immigration reform was lashed to comprehensive reform in the Senate, meaning that it likely can’t, or at least won’t given current Congressional dynamics, pass on its own. So until we have comprehensive immigration reform, we likely won’t see reform of the nation’s H-1B visa program and so forth.

When immigration reform died an ignominious death on Capitol Hill last year, I was pessimistic that Congress would get much done this year. High-skill immigration reform: Still dead. America!