Reid: House GOP immigration inaction costs US jobs

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday that, if House Republicans would pass comprehensive immigration reform, the economy would add more jobs.

Reid made the comments after a June jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found the economy added 288,000 jobs last month. Reid said that number would have been better if the Senate’s immigration reform bill had become law.

{mosads}“Comprehensive immigration reform would have added an average of 121,000 more jobs per year over the next 10 years,” Reid said. “Unfortunately, House Republicans, under the influence of the Tea Party, refused to bring it up for a vote. Their refusal is costing our economy added growth that we need.”

The Senate passed a bipartisan immigration reform bill last year, but Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has said he would not bring any immigration reform legislation to the House floor this year.

“Over a year ago, the Senate passed bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform. The Senate’s legislation would have reduced the deficit by $200 billion over the next 10 years, more than all waiting House bills combined,” Reid said. “Now it is time for my Republican colleagues to step up, help the middle class and pass these important measures.”

President Obama said Boehner’s refusal to move legislation would lead him to take administrative actions on immigration reform.

The Senate bill would create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants inside the United States, increase student and worker visas, and spend more funds on border security.