Gang of Eight
by Kitty Felde
In the Fina Mendoza Mysteries, Fina's father, Congressman Arturo Mendoza, is named to a bipartisan group on Capitol Hill working on an immigration reform bill. It's not going very well.
"REPORTER: The so-called Gang of Eight appears to have hit a stone wall. Republicans continue to push for border security. Democrats are asking for a path to citizenship. When asked about the Gang of Eight’s progress, California Congressman Arturo Mendoza shrugged off concerns that the ad hoc committee was going nowhere fast.
PAPA: We’ve been having very good discussions.
REPORTER: But no proposals.
PAPA: Not yet."
The last time Congress passed comprehensive immigration reform was in 1986, a bill signed by President Ronald Reagan. Every few years, Congress tries again. And fails.
(photo: Kitty Felde) The 844-page immigration reform bill of 2013 passed the Senate and died in the House of Representatives.
Congress tried again in 2021, the first bill President Biden sent to Capitol Hill. The prospects of passing an immigration bill in either the House or the Senate any time in the near future? “Zero,” said then-New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez.
Back in 2013, a bipartisan group of Senators - four Republicans and Four Democrats - worked together to craft a comprehensive immigration reform bill. The measure included a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented people living in the U.S.
The lawmakers called themselves Gang of Eight.
The immigration reform bill crafted by the real Gang of Eight passed the Senate with a strong majority, 14 Republicans joining all Democrats. But over on the House side, the GOP Speaker let it expire without a vote.
Congress has grown more partisan, more angry, more bitter. The probability of finding common ground on immigration issues Republican care about - border security, more visas for highly skilled tech workers and farmworkers - and those that Democrats are pushing - a path to citizenship for the "Dreamers," undocumented young people brought to this country as children - is quite small.
But, as Papa says, misquoting his favorite movie Galaxy Quest "Never give up, never give in."
