Immigration reform will be crucial for GOP

The fearless men and women of Congress can rest easy at night knowing that no matter how bad things get on the Hill, Americans will still view their representatives in Washington in a more favorable light than some other things. That list, however, is shrinking.

According to results of a survey by the Public Policy Polling Institute, Americans view witches, hemorrhoids and cockroaches more favorably than their representatives in Congress.

A poll by CNN noted that this puts Congress, and more specifically the GOP, in a dire situation: With just over a year until midterm elections, 75 percent of respondents believed most Republican representatives in Congress should not be reelected. The poll found that respondents blamed Congressional Republicans more than Democrats for the government shutdown. Overall, a CBS News Poll showed that the Congressional disapproval rate rests at 85 percent — the highest since the poll began in 1977.

These polls might be bleak, but the next legislative agenda item, comprehensive immigration reform, offers both the GOP and Congress an opportunity to prove to the American public that Congress can actually be productive.

Immigration reform, which passed in the Senate over the summer, failed in the House of Representatives after it was unable to garner majority support. The biggest obstacle immigration reform faces this time is convincing a majority of House Republicans to go against the nebulous Hastert Rule used by Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) to justify not bringing the bill to a vote over the summer.

Many voices within the party are touting immigration reform as the gateway to a better relationship with Latino voters. Moreover, most of the components of reform are favored by a large majority of voters. The International Business Times reported that more than 50 percent of voters support implementing an electronic system that will allow employers to check the immigration status of employees, a path to citizenship for the undocumented, a system to ensure people who enter the country leave it, more visas for highly skilled workers and an increase in border security.

The hard line to walk for the GOP in regards to immigration reform, however, is that if the legislation is passed, the political benefits from it would be shared with President Barack Obama and the Democrats. The last thing Congressional Republicans want to do is hand Obama a victory on immigration: Despite its popularity with voters, as long as immigration reform is a win for Obama, it can succeed.

In some capacity, Republicans recognize the necessity of immigration reform happening, which is why they’ve begun passing piecemeal bits of reform. Still, Republicans loathe the idea of helping Obama score back-to-back wins on the debt ceiling and immigration. For immigration reform to pass by the end of the year, expect a long-fought battle: The GOP will stand firm, but if Obama displays the same kind of backbone that he displayed over the shutdown, a deal seems inevitable.

The impending debate over immigration reform will be largely indicative of the future of the GOP.  The test for the Republican Party leadership, and Boehner in particular, is to show how ignoring the Hastert Rule and passing policy is more important than scoring political points. It sounds crazy, but it’s happened before.

One of the main signs for optimism is government productivity in the wake of the 1996 government shutdown. After the 1996 shutdown engineered by then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was resolved, a spirit of productivity descended upon the Republican Party. Congress increased the minimum wage, enacted welfare reform and passed the Kennedy-Kassebaum health care law.

Our congressmen have an added incentive to make a deal happen: The aforementioned PPPI poll revealed that Americans still prefer Congress to Miley Cyrus, but that gap is closing, possibly because the actions of Congress seem to be the political equivalent of twerking on national television. The sooner Washington realizes this, the sooner they might actually work together and get it right.

Nathaniel Haas is  a sophomore majoring in economics and political science. His column “A House Divided” runs Thursdays.

Follow Nathaniel on Twitter @Haas4Prez2036