Senator Charles Schumer wants one large bill, while Senator Marco Rubio would be happy with more of a step-by-step approach. The Gang of Eight’s landmark bill on immigration is a strong reminder that sweeping legislation that comes out of Washington can become very messy very quickly, with even the most well-intentioned legislation able to turn into a nightmare when it comes to implementation.
While Congress debates the numerous different aspects of US immigration reform such as the bolstering of national security and administering agricultural worker US visas, Republicans in the House are insisting that the nation’s broken immigration system should be tackled one step at a time.
“By taking a fine toothed comb through each of the individual issues within the larger immigration debate, it will help us get a better bill that will benefit Americans and provide a workable immigration system,” says Bob Goodlatte, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Goodlatte also made the announcement that later this week a series of smaller bills will be introduced by members of the House to address different pieces of the immigration bill, including one that will require businesses to use a digitized database to cross reference the immigration status of an employee and one to create a temporary agriculture guest worker program.
Some, however, are worried that this strategy will undermine the sweeping bill introduced by the Gang of Eight last week, believing that big bills are the best method to make sure all issues are addressed.