US immigration reform all but dead for 2013

WASHINGTON - House Speaker John Boehner signaled Wednesday that comprehensive US immigration reform was dead this year, saying the existing Senate measure offering a pathway to citizenship would not get a vote.

Boehner has long stated his desire to pass a new law and he came under direct pressure from two teenagers born to immigrants who ambushed him in a diner at breakfast, demanding he do more to push for an overhaul.

"How would you feel if you had to tell your kids at the age of 10 that you were never coming home?" one of the teens asked the House speaker, according to an NBC video of the incident.

Boehner, sitting at the counter of Pete's Diner, a popular eaterie near the Capitol, told them "I'm trying to find some way to get this thing done," but that the legislation is "not going to be an easy path forward."

Boehner and his Republican Party are under heavy pressure ahead of 2016 presidential elections to improve their standing among Hispanic voters for whom immigration is a cherished political goal.

After stressing last month that the House of Representatives needed to act on some form of immigration legislation, the speaker repeated his opposition to the Senate plan Wednesday.

But he went a step further, saying "we have no intention of ever going to conference on the Senate bill," meaning the House would not vote on it.

Boehner and other Republicans prefer a "step-by-step" approach to reform, which would allow for votes on issues like border security or laborer visas.

"The idea that we're going to take up a 1,300-page bill that no one had ever read -- which is what the Senate did -- is not going to happen in the House," he said.

The Democratic-held Senate pushed through historic bipartisan legislation this year that provides a pathway to citizenship for most of the 11 million people living illegally in the United States.

But several signs have suggested that near-term immigration reform is highly unlikely.

Senior House Republican Kevin McCarthy reportedly said last week that a vote on immigration reform would not happen this year because of the tight legislative calendar.

And with the 2014 mid-term elections, prospects appeared to be slipping away for next year as well.

Boehner said Republicans were working with Democrats "developing a set of principles that will help guide us as we deal with this issue."

But number two House Democrat Steny Hoyer said Boehner's office has not contacted him about the bipartisan efforts and said he was "disappointed" with the speaker's blunt remarks.

"The message will be to an awful lot of people in the United States: 'We don't care about you.'"

Boehner's comments came on the day Obama met at the White House with faith leaders who back immigration reform.

The president "noted there is no reason for House Republicans to continue to delay action on this issue that has garnered bipartisan support," the White House said in a statement.