Henry Paulson, the former US Treasury secretary, claims that more and more of his fellow Republicans are in favor of changing the country’s immigration policies. This is one of a number of structural steps Paulson would support in order to improve the nation’s economy.
In an interview on Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN, Paulson said that Congress needs to be able to reach bipartisan compromises to create a more robust economic recovery, which include changes to tax and trade policies as well as the revision of immigration laws. “I think immigration reform would make a huge difference,” Paulson declared. “I think immigration reform is necessary.”
The push for the House to pass the comprehensive immigration bill that gained Senate approval in 2013 has stalled and the prospects seem to be diminishing for any kind of measure to be approved by Congress prior to the midterm elections in November. Republicans in the House of Representatives, led by speaker John Boehner, have refused to take any action on the Senate bill, with very little progress having been reached on any form of alternative; however, Paulson claims support is growing among Republicans. “I am a Republican,” Paulson says. “I think you’re seeing a growing number of Republicans that favor immigration reform.”
The great majority of the business community, including the Chamber of Commerce, has been trying to lobby for changes to the country’s immigration laws to ease the nation’s labor gaps, which are often filled by immigrants.