A couple of weeks ago, amidst the prolonged drama surrounding Senate passage of the Democrats’ health care bill, House Democrats unveiled another major policy initiative for 2010–a renewed effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

The new bill didn’t attract a lot of national media attention at the time. Health care sucked the air out of the news cycle. But a closer look at this developing story reveals an interesting twist. The House’s new immigration gambit looks more like a political tactic aimed at dividing Republicans–when the GOP is growing in political strength heading into the 2010 midterm elections–than a serious effort to find solutions to this complicated issue.