While the official decision, and press release, on the Republican decision to postpone immigration reform until 2007 will be issued by senior Republicans sometime this week, the word is already out on the Hill:  Republicans believe it too risky to negotiate for immigration reform so close to the mid-term elections.  They are determined to hang on to their majority seats for the last two years of the Bush administration, and refuse to lose votes on the issue of immigration reform. As a result, for the next nineteen days Republicans in the House and Senate will focus on Pentagon and domestic security spending bills, port security legislation and other national security measures.

In less than one week Congress will return to Capitol Hill to take up all unfinished agenda items before the mid-term elections in November. Actually, Congress will have about five weeks to wrap up the agenda before members turn their focus and energies to the November elections. Senators and Republicans are therefore making their final push to mobilize their constituents on immigration issues this week.  

One field hearing to watch will be the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing in Texas which will likely focus on Senator Cornyn's SKIL Bill.  This much-needed legislation provides for an increased number of visas for high-skilled immigrants.  However, most other field hearings will continue to promote border security instead of comprehensive immigration reform.  Conservative members of Congress will also continue to hold town hall style meetings during the August recess.

Senators Durbin (D-IL) and Sununu (R-NH) introduced a bipartisan proposal for Lebanese Temporary Protected Status on August 1st as an attempt to aid those Lebanese nationals affected by the ongoing conflict and hostilities in Lebanon.  If passed, the Durbin-Sununu bill would allow Lebanese nationals currently in the U.S. to remain in this country for an initial twelve-months.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania and a coalition of public interest groups and volunteer attorneys filed a law suit to challenge the town of Hazelton’s passage of laws that would forbid undocumented immigrants from renting property and that requires all official city documents to be written in English only.  The law, entitled "Illegal Immigration Relief Act" was passed by the Hazelton City Council on July 13, 2006.  The ACLU and the coalition of public interest groups and volunteer attorneys also sent a letter to the Mayor and to the City Council informing that litigation could be avoided if the ordinance is repealed.  Otherwise, the groups inform that the litigation will be aggressively pursued. Not only does this new law target those who appear foreign and encourage discrimination, but it also creates tension between neighbors at a time when the issue of immigration reform is fiercely debated by Congress and the White House.