House Republicans’ immigration stalling tactic coming to Las Cruces

House Republican members are coming to Las Cruces on Thursday to conduct an on-the-road hearing on immigration, according to an article in the El Paso Times.

They’ll also be in El Paso on Aug. 17.

It’s part of their 13-state tour in August. The Las Cruces hearing of the House Administration Committee will deal with the question of how Congress can “best protect the integrity of the federal voting process by combating election fraud and eliminating non-citizen voting.”

That’s a contentious issue here. New Mexico, in theory, allows non-citizens to vote by requiring only the display of something like a utility bill for a first-time voter, and not an actual government-issued identification card.

But since most undocumented immigrants fear capture and the system, it’s not likely many of them are voting.

The state is also in the process of switching back to paper ballots for elections, a system favored by most Democrats and opposed by most Republicans.

None of the House committee’s members are from New Mexico or surrounding states.

The House and Senate were close to a compromise twice this year on immigration reform, but talks stalled both times. Republicans in the House ended negotiations with the Senate so they could conduct hearings throughout the summer.

Many Democrats have called it a stalling tactic. Political analysts have correctly suggested that, in a bad year for the Republican Party on a national level, the GOP doesn’t want to take action on such a controversial issue in advance of the November election.