No easy road ahead on immigration in GOP House

• House Republicans met Wednesday to discuss the best way forward on immigration legislation
• The House is unlikely to take action before the fall
• The Senate-passed bill%2C which includes a pathway to citizenship%2C has no support among House GOP

WASHINGTON — House Republicans dug in their opposition to the Senate-passed immigration overhaul at a closed-door meeting Wednesday where lawmakers began mapping out a slower, piecemeal approach to immigration and border security legislation.

"Comprehensive (immigration reform) has always been a swear word" for House Republicans, said Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, adding that the overwhelming consensus among the rank-and-file is to approve smaller pieces of legislation that deal with individual problems.

It was the first in-depth, conference-wide meeting on immigration since the Senate approved, 68-32, last month an immigration bill that included enhanced border security and a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants residing in the country.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said the Senate bill stands no chance of passage in the House of Representatives, and he has publicly committed to not allowing any legislation to come to the floor that does not have the support of the majority of the chamber's 234 Republican members.

Americans "don't trust a Democratic-controlled Washington, and they're alarmed by the president's ongoing insistence on enacting a single, massive, Obamacare-like bill rather than pursuing a step-by-step, common-sense approach to actually fix the problem," House Republican leaders said in a joint statement after the meeting.

House members expect to take up legislation dealing with border security, worker verification systems and temporary visas for high-skilled workers. There is no consensus on how to approach — if at all — a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented, which has significant resistance among Republicans.

Several Republicans emerging from Wednesday's meeting discussed breaking up the pool of 11 million undocumented immigrants and handling them in different ways.

Many said they'd feel comfortable giving immigrants who were brought illegally into the country as children legal status and the ability to apply for citizenship. "There was some voices of strong compassion for people in that situation," said Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said another group of undocumented immigrants — serious criminals — should face immediate deportation. However, Issa said, there's another group in the middle who could be given "long-term" visas that would allow them to live and work in the country but require them to go back to their home countries for some time.

Democrats have opposed such proposals, calling them tantamount to second-class citizenship. Issa rejected that idea, saying many in the country illegally simply want to come for periods to work.

"Anytime you don't allow full citizenship to people who are permanently here…that I believe Republicans are united that they don't want to have that," Issa said. "Clearly though, for example, long-term guest workers that return, maintain their countries back home — they're not being denied something; their visa is limited to that. That's part of the bargain."

There is no legislation scheduled for floor action this month, meaning the earliest potential votes will come this fall after the August recess.

House Democrats, meanwhile, are increasingly vocal that they will not to support any immigration effort that does not include a pathway to citizenship. Senior Democrats say they will resist a piecemeal approach. "I don't know that the Republican leadership has a strategy that is workable," said House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

President Obama huddled Wednesday at the White House with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The White House and its allies are likely to use the summer months to keep pressure on House Republicans to act.

In the coming weeks, Obama administration officials will promote the support of business, law enforcement and local government officials for a new immigration bill. "We are on this every day," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Contributing: David Jackson