Schumer’s ‘little secret’ on immigration

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday predicted Congress would pass an immigration reform bill this year. 

“I want to let you in on a little secret. We are going to pass that bill and sign it into law this year,” Schumer said at the Citizenship Now immigration hotline in New York, according to the Daily News.

Schumer, a member of the “Gang of Eight” that helped push a immigration package through the Senate last year, said Republican leaders in the House have become increasingly aware the party will lose future elections without a deal. 

{mosads}”The Republican Party knows if it continues to be seen as anti-immigrant, they’re going to lose election after election … Their leadership knows it, and they’re trying to convince the rank and file,” Schumer said.

The senator said the eventual deal would likely not be exactly what the Senate passed last year. 

“We will have an immigration bill — it may not be exactly the Senate bill — on the floor of the House … We will come to an agreement. They will put that bill on the president’s desk for President Obama to sign into law,” Schumer said. 

House leaders have resisted the comprehensive Senate bill that offers a pathway to citizenship for many of the 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally. They instead released principles earlier this year that outlined a path to legalization and have argued for a more piecemeal approach. It has been unclear if a deal could be brokered ahead of the midterm election. 

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) last week poked fun at his GOP conference for resisting immigration reform because it is too hard, saying they have taken the path of least resistance. However, Boehner has also blamed distrust in President Obama as one of the largest barriers to a deal.