House Dems Preparing For Immigration Reform Battle

House Democrats are quietly preparing to move an immigration bill this year.

While Democrats in the lower chamber are not deviating from their strategy of waiting for the Senate to act first, they are not just twiddling their thumbs.

Democrats at the subcommittee and full committee level have been staking their claim in the debate, arguing they will be able to hit the ground running if the Senate clears a bill.

According to Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), his colleagues are getting ready in the event that their Senate colleagues pass an immigration bill.

Cuellar, chairman of the Homeland Security subcommittee on border security, recently approached the full Homeland Security Committee chairman, Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), about having a seat at the table.

“I was talking to my chairman, saying, ‘Hey, you’re the big chairman. I’m the little chairman; I want to be there with you.’ He said, ‘You’re definitely going to be in the room,’ ” Cuellar told The Hill last week.

Cuellar also had a lengthy conversation on the floor of the House last Thursday with Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Judiciary subcommittee with jurisdiction on immigration reform.

Over the past several weeks, Lofgren has been talking with members on the contentious issue, according to a Democratic aide.

Arizona’s enactment of a stringent border-security bill last month has generated some momentum on Capitol Hill for comprehensive immigration reform.

But the Senate is still a long way from passing a bill.

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