Cavaliers, Borderers and immigration reform

Last week, House Speaker John Boehner announced that he has no intention of moving forward on the immigration reform bill that passed the Senate by a wide margin in June. 

On the one hand, this is no surprise. Boehner’s Congress is sitting on a lot of important legislation (the Farm Bill, crucial budgetary legislation), and Boehner has said that he intends to be judged by “how many laws that we repeal,” not “how many new laws we create.” 

On the other hand, not so long ago immigration reform was thought to be key to the Republican Party’s future: rebuilding relationships with Hispanic voters and changing the perception of the party as consisting of old, out-of-touch white men.