AUTHOR:  Robert Neale.

As the comprehensive immigration reform bill moves from the U.S. Senate’s Judiciary Committee to a full Senate floor debate, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to introduce its own version of a comprehensive immigration reform bill soon. Unlike the Senate bill, no details of the possible House bill have been released, and different groups within the House reportedly are working on their own versions.  One bipartisan working group’s bill is expected to contain a 15-year path to citizenship, an E-Verify system that is roughly analogous to the one in the Senate bill, and a pair of guest worker plans that will be sorted out at a later point. That group has been working on a bill since the beginning of the Obama presidency, and took up the issue with renewed vigor after November’s elections.  Another working group within the House is strongly opposed to any path to citizenship.  Any proposed bill must pass through the House Judiciary Committee prior to reaching the floor of the House.  We expected that the immigration reform process will play out well into the summer.  Jackson Lewis will continue to monitor all legislative activities and keep you informed on comprehensive immigration reform.