Edward Alden for the Council on Foreign Relations: Anti-immigration activists who helped to derail comprehensive immigration reform last year are seething over several provisions of the omnibus spending bill passed by Congress last week. Tucked away in the mammoth legislation were some of the most significant changes in years to U.S. immigration laws.

One of the biggest would greatly expand the H-2B program for temporary seasonal non-agriculture workers such as landscapers, restaurant staff and seafood processors. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who led the fight in the Senate against comprehensive reform, lamented that the new provisions would “line the pockets of special interests and big business.” …