Immigration reform could be breaking down in both chambers of Congress, as Republican Congressman Raul Labrador (R-ID), considered to be the most important player in the House of Representatives’ immigration reform debate, has now has pulled out of the House’s own bipartisan “Gang of 8′ immigration group.
Labrador’s Congressional office released a statement saying that the reason why the Congressman back out of the “8” because “members couldn’t satisfactorily resolve the issue of who would be responsible for the health care costs of undocumented illegal immigrants.“
The release added that the group had agreed “in principle” that those illegal immigrants who would benefit from the immigration reform bill, would have to pay for their own health care bills.
“I have tremendous respect for the members of the bipartisan group who have been working with me to fix our broken immigration system,” said Rep. Labrador, “But after today’s meeting, the framework of the bill has changed in a way that I can no longer support. Like most Americans, I believe that health care is first and foremost a personal responsibility.
While I will no longer be part of the bipartisan ‘Group of Eight’ House negotiators, I will not abandon my efforts to modernize our broken immigration system by securing our borders and creating a workable guest worker program. I remain hopeful that the House can pass a bill around these principles and I will keep fighting to make it happen.” –Rep. Raul Labrador
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