Fox News Channel senior political analyst Brit Hume explained that the “Gang of Eight” immigration legislation is “in serious trouble” for reasons other than last week’s terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon.
Hume said the bill was already in trouble since its supporters abandoned some of the border enforcement provisions earlier advertised, which has made it easier to attack as amnesty.
“In the near time, I think it probably stalls immigration legislation,” Hume said on Monday’s episode of “America’s Newsroom.” “But I think the immigration legislation, Martha, was in trouble already for other reasons. It was always going to be a very tough sell in the House of Representatives, so, you know, things have gotten started in the Senate where the fabled ‘Gang of Eight’ where Marco Rubio acting as spokesman for them was taking the lead. And the issue that I think is in play here has to do with border enforcement. It’s very difficult for proponents of legislation like this to overcome a successful attack on the bill as amnesty.”
“And the border enforcement, which was supposed to be a trigger — in other words, border enforcement up to a certain high level was supposed to be achieved before the path to citizenship and other parts of this bill could take effect,” he continued. “The border enforcement provisions appear to be weaker than they had been described, and that may keep that bill from passing the Senate, and it would certainly would never be able to pass the House. Now they might work something out with the House version. But I think the bill is in trouble anyway. I’m not saying it’s dead, but I think it’s in serious trouble, and this attack will, I think, to some extent stall progress on it further.”