With Republicans in control of the House and Democrats holding a
majority in the Senate, partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill has
reached its highest levels in decades. As such, prospects for
bipartisan cooperation regarding comprehensive immigration
legislation do not appear favorable as is the case with many
controversial issues.
With comprehensive reform legislation unlikely for now, Congress
may turn its attention to more narrowly focused immigration issues.
Most notably, legislation recently was introduced in the House and
Senate aimed at strengthening enforcement of workplace immigration
laws.
Introduction of the legislation comes in the wake of a recent
U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a 2007 law passed in
Arizona requiring all employers to use the federal E-Verify program
to determine new employees' immigration status. The Arizona law had
been challenged on the grounds that state and local jurisdictions
were pre-empted from passing immigration enforcement measures by
federal law. As a result of the high court decision, many states
and localities are expected to move forward with laws to mandate
E-Verify for employers.
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