The fight begins

The fight for REAL immigration reform starts now.

Yesterday, Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP). The bill includes

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, introduced Tuesday a “historic” bill for comprehensive immigration reform that would allow millions of undocumented aliens to be legalized.

During a press conference at which supporters chanted “Yes we can!” Gutierrez repeated his message that reforming the U.S. immigration system is urgent.

“We’ve waited long enough,” he said. “Just because we’ve been patient doesn’t mean we can wait forever.”

“This bill should be the immigration policy of our country...it’s not complicated. It’s pro-family, pro-jobs and pro-security,” he said of the 700-page text.

Gutierrez expressed confidence that the bill, which will probably be debated in February or March 2010, will win Republican support. For now, all 87 of his co-sponsors are Democrats.

“There is no right or wrong time (to present the bill), there’s just a moral obligation,” said Rep. Nydia Velasquez (D-N.Y.), leader of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

This is not the only immigration bill being toss around in Congress. On the senate side, Senators Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham are also working on an immigration reform bill and will probably unveil their plan in late January.

UPDATE: Fight delayed?

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has privately told her politically vulnerable Democratic members that they will not vote on controversial bills in 2010 unless the Senate acts first.

After a year of bruising legislative victories that some political analysts believe have done more to jeopardize her majority than to entrench it, Pelosi is shifting gears for the 2010 election.

The Speaker recently assured her freshman lawmakers and other vulnerable members of her caucus that a vote on immigration reform is not looming despite a renewed push from the White House and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The House will not move on the issue until the upper chamber passes a bill, Pelosi told the members.

[...]

“The Speaker has told members in meetings that we’ve done our jobs,” a Democratic leadership aide said. “And that next year the Senate’s going to have to prove what it can accomplish before we go sticking our necks out any further.”