This book project focuses on gridlock on immigration reform in Congress since the last major legislation in 1986. The first part focuses on what factors lead to the breakdown in negotiations. The second question asks how and under what circumstances could coalitions and agreement in Congress occur to pass various types of immigration bills. The role of partisanship, polarization, framing, legislative strategies, and race and ethnicity, will be central to understanding patterns of breakdown and agreement. To examine these questions, I adopt a multi-method approach utilizing a host of quantitative data in addition to interviews with MCs and case studies.