An article in yesterday’s New York Times makes the important point that while the plan to provide a pathway to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants received more attention, a much bigger chunk of the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform bill is concerned with reforming legal immigration—which includes not only measures to clear the current green card backlog, but also to shift the immigration system to more of a merit-based system focused more on education and job skills.

But here again, the House is having none of that:

None of several smaller measures recently approved by House committees deal with fixing the visa system, and a bipartisan House bill similar to the Senate’s has stalled. For many House conservatives, the increase in legal immigration under the Senate plan is nearly as objectionable as the promise of citizenship for immigrants here illegally. (my emphasis)