Immigration Reform 2014: Boehner Said to Support 'Step by Step' Moves to Pass Immigration Reform

House Speaker John Boehner has indicated that he may support limited immigration reforms in 2014, giving immigration activists hope that comprehensive immigration reform will pass this year. 

Boehner already showed some signs of moving toward reform in recent months. He recently hired Rebecca Tallent, an immigration advisor to Sen. John McCain. Tallent fought for comprehensive immigration overhauls in 2003 and 2007.

Tallent's hiring, as well as Boehner's critical comments of Tea Party Republicans who opposed the budget deal in Congress, indicate that he wants to pass reform, despite opposition from conservative GOP members. Boehner said that Tea Party groups, which are against an immigration compromise, have "lost all credibility." 

This week, Boehner's aides said he wants to initiate "step by step" moves to revise immigration measures, according to The New York Times. 

Other House Republicans, who see immigration reform as a way to gain Hispanic voters ahead of the 2016 presidential election, said they could pass separate bills that would provide a faster path to citizenship for agricultural laborers, increase the number of visas for high-tech workers, and allow young immigrants who came to America as children to become citizens. 

Aides still say that Boehner is opposed to a single, comprehensive immigration reform bill, like the one passed by the Senate in June. The Senate-passed measure calls for tightened border security and a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants. 

"The American people are skeptical of big, comprehensive bills, and frankly, they should be," Boehner told reporters recently. "The only way to make sure immigration reform works this time is to address these complicated issues one step at a time. I think doing so will give the American people confidence that we're dealing with these issues in a thoughtful way and a deliberative way."

President Obama also said that he is open to a piecemeal approach on immigration, but only if it does not abandon the goals passed by the Senate this summer. However, policy analysts say that reconciling the Senate goals with those of Republicans in a piecemeal fashion will be difficult.  

"We've got to grab the brass ring while it's there," said Kevin Appleby, the director of migration policy at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. "I've been in this debate long enough to know you can't rely on anything happening at a certain time or on assurances that we're going to do something this year."

While immigration activists are calling for an overhaul in 2014, lawmakers say they plan to pass legislation in the House by May or June, after most Republicans are through with their primary campaigns. They plan to reach a compromise that Obama could sign before the 2014 midterm elections next fall. 

"That's our first window," said Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a Christian social justice organization in Washington that is working to change the immigration laws. "We are organizing, mobilizing, getting ready here. I do really think that we have a real chance at this in the first half of the year."

If reform is not passed by the summer of 2014, strategists say they could make another push for it during a lame-duck session at the end of next year. If it does not happen after the November elections, it would have to wait until 2015. 

House Republicans have a retreat scheduled this month, and will most likely hold off on decisions about reform until then.