Immigration and House Republicans

Now that numerous conservative ideologues have concluded that Republicans need to shore up their future by courting Hispanic immigrants, eyes turn to the House of Representatives to see what Republican legislators will actually do:

For the second time in three months, Republicans are pushing a bill that would create 55,000 additional green cards annually for foreign students who receive graduate degrees at U.S. universities in science, technology, engineering and math — so-called STEM graduates. On its own, that’s a fine idea, and a bipartisan one at that; as things stand, too many of these highly sought students are forced to leave the country upon graduation, to the detriment of U.S. competitiveness.

But the GOP measure, which was approved by the House of Representatives on Friday, comes at a cost: The 55,000 visas would be derived by eliminating a similar number of green cards disbursed by the so-called diversity lottery, a 20-year-old program that awards visas mainly to low-skilled Africans and Eastern Europeans. On top of having been a brilliant public diplomacy tool for the United States, the lottery has offered a lifeline for the sorts of immigrants who have energized this nation for decades by their pluck and drive. Democrats are willing to expand STEM visas, but many are rightly reluctant to sacrifice the lottery. So the bill is likely dead on arrival in the Senate. 

Sigh. Until House Republicans get out of their Braveheart mindset, shed their opposition to passing anything that makes Democrats look good, and work for compromise, nothing good will come out of Washington.

If House Republicans refuse to take any meaningful action on immigration, the winner will be the Democratic Party, which will solidify its hold on Hispanic and Asian voters. The loser will be the country as a whole, and especially the millions of immigrants and would-be immigrants whose lives will be left in limbo.