Jeb Bush urges House to pass immigration bill

Catalina Camia | USA TODAY

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush is calling on the GOP-led House to pass a comprehensive immigration bill and asked his party to quit being "the obstacle" on the divisive issue.

Bush, who is considering running for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, called on House Republicans to make improvements to the sweeping immigration legislation passed by the Senate last week on a bipartisan, 68-32 vote. He made his plea Monday in an op-ed column for The Wall Street Journal, co-written by Clint Bolick, his co-author on a book about immigration policy.

"No Republican would vote for legislation that stifled economic growth, promoted illegal immigration, added to the welfare rolls, and failed to ensure a secure border. Yet they essentially will do just that if they fail to pass comprehensive immigration reform — and leave in place a system that does all of those things," Bush and Bolick wrote.

House Speaker John Boehner has said the House will not pass an immigration bill that doesn't have support from a majority of Republican and Democratic members. That could be a challenge in the GOP-led House, where Republicans have 234 members to 201 for Democrats. Three major pieces of legislation this year — the bill to avert the "fiscal cliff," aid to Superstorm Sandy victims and an extension of the Violence Against Women Act — all passed on the strength of Democratic votes.

Bush and Bolick acknowledged the threshold set by Boehner for GOP votes, calling it a "tall order" but one that could be met. They suggest tweaking the Senate bill to include more triggers to ensure the border is secure and ways to verify the legal status of workers, and create more opportunities for foreign guest workers. They made a nod to GOP losses at the ballot box last year, when minorities overwhelmingly voted for President Obama.

"Immigration is not the only issue on which Hispanics or Asians vote. But it is a gateway issue," Bush and Bolick said. "Republicans need to cease being the obstacle to immigration reform and instead point the way toward the solution."

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