An article published yesterday shows why this is happening. The article points to 5 definitive reasons why immigration reform could be passed this year when it only a couple of weeks ago that seemed highly unlikely .
The first is that the House is finally getting things done. House Speaker John Boehner is getting things done. 3 months ago, it looked like the convention was that unless the GOP was unified, any bill would not be passed. Since then, the House has passed notable bills including Sandy Relief and a new tax deal. I believe that this change is a recognition that immigration reform will make it to the floor and it is in the best interests of the GOP to find some sort of compromise of the immigration reform issue.
Secondly, the bill that Obama recently created and was leaked was skewered by Republicans. This seems like a bad thing to immigration reform advocates but in reality it isn't. Senator Marco Rubio was an outspoken critic yet introduced his own views and it was not significantly different than President Obama's.
Going off point two, Marco Rubio is inadvertently (or intentionally) engaging conservatives and Republicans in the immigration debate. And this time, the outspoken critics are not as loud, and some are even jumping on thebandwagon calling for reform. Clearly, it is politically correct this go around to favor reform.
In 2007, immigration reform went down in flames. While there were other hot-topic issues that are not as prominent this go around,
Senator Marco Rubio with wife Jeanette
(War in Iraq, looming elections) one of the main problems is that labor industries and big-business were at odds. This time, they are seeing the same goals and finding a compromise that supports reform.
And lastly, when considering the highly-controversial topic of a pathway to citizenship, there seems to at least be a push, especially under Republican leadership, to have a bipartisan compromise. This bodes well for supporters of immigration reform.
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