How immigration [amnesty] died, part 2: Boehner bails on bipartisan legislation

[See video summary in the original article.]

...Reps. John Carter and Sam Johnson had worked for more than four years to craft a bipartisan immigration overhaul, risking their political reputations to join with liberal Democrats on the kind of legislation that many conservatives reviled.

In the summer of 2013, the 500-page bill was written, reviewed and endorsed by their four Democratic colleagues. But Carter and Johnson needed something more — a commitment from Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) that the proposal would move and not be left hanging for immigration reform foes like Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) to use for target practice.

Boehner wouldn’t give it to them.

Time and again, the Speaker’s response was the same: Finish your work, introduce your bill and we’ll see what happens.

“Why should we risk our political capital?” Carter said. “Our leadership is not willing to move forward.”...

By the summer, Diaz-Balart said, he knew the group’s bill would not win support from a majority of Republicans without more changes. Conservatives regularly raised concerns that they could not trust the Obama administration to implement the security portions of the bill once it announced its unilateral decision to delay the employer mandate in the healthcare law.

“That was what broke the camel’s back,” Diaz-Balart said.

Democrats had long since given up hope on the conservative chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who publicly professed support for immigration reform but advanced piecemeal bills through his panel solely on party-line votes. He said repeatedly he looked forward to seeing the group’s bill, but he wouldn’t commit to giving it a vote in the committee.

“Goodlatte is not working to achieve immigration reform. He is working to scuttle it,” a Democrat involved in the talks said...

Time and again, Boehner’s response was the same. He wouldn’t go around or pressure Goodlatte, and he wouldn’t deem the group’s bill the official House plan.

Carter and Johnson wouldn’t officially withdraw until September, but Democrats knew the bill was dead.

“Before we left for recess, it was cooked,” Gutierrez said. “It wasn’t even on life support.”