One month after U.S. President Obama issued an executive order on immigration reform with unprecedented impact, multiple media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, reported that the Republican Party, having won control of both houses of Congress in the midterm elections, is proposing a series of immigration reform bills in preparation for submission to the new Congress that will be sworn in early next year.
According to a report by Latin Post, after President Obama issued an executive order last month to protect more than 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation, Republicans have launched a series of attacks.
However, the Republican Party is also facing criticism from immigration rights advocates. For example, a report in The New York Times mentioned that Angelica Salas, Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), stated that the Republican Party is "obstructing immigration reform."
Recent polls from the Pew Research Center and Gallup over the past month also show that the majority of Hispanics support the immigration reform measures proposed by Obama. If the Republican Party takes actions unfavorable to immigration reform, it could likely affect the electoral prospects of Republican candidates in the 2016 general election.
Republican leaders in both houses of Congress have vaguely indicated their intention to pass immigration reform legislation in the new Congress, with some Republican lawmakers claiming they want to strengthen security on the U.S.-Mexico border. However, the majority of Republican lawmakers have not yet indicated whether they support the immigration reform bill.
As for whether the new legislation will include provisions to repeal President Obama's executive order on immigration reform, the matter remains unresolved. However, if Republican lawmakers include such provisions in the bill, it will almost certainly face strong resistance, as President Obama would exercise his veto power, and Democratic lawmakers in Congress would make it difficult for Republicans to secure the votes necessary to override a veto.
