The immigration reform package being shopped by the Senate's Gang of Eight is being touted as "sweeping" — but the House's approach certainly won't be. The House's approach will be a piecemeal one, as the Senate prepares formally to begin tweaking its own comprehensive reform proposal starting May 9. The Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee told reporters that his panel would start tackling individual bills dealing with different components of the immigration system in a "step-by-step" fashion. That batch of bills is unlikely to include any measure to give undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship, he said. Meanwhile, the Senate's own Judiciary Committee is about to begin its mark-up of the bill the Gang of Eight has crafted in close quarters, to the consternation of some Republicans who oppose a pathway to citizenship. The dueling House and Senate approaches could wind up clashing this summer, if the Senate passes comprehensive reform but the House only passes limited elements.
