House GOP unveils a draft bill to overhaul immigration
WASHINGTON: House Republicans unveiled a “discussion draft’’ of a sweeping immigration bill that includes a path to citizenship for young immigrants, $25 billion in border security — including advance funds for President Donald Trump’s wall with Mexico — and a provision aimed at addressing the crisis of family separations at the border.
Presented to lawmakers on Thursday, the measure sticks to Mr Trump’s immigration priorities while trying to join the party’s warring conservative and moderate factions on an issue that has divided the GOP for years. Passage is far from certain.
Speaker Paul Ryan wants to hold a vote as soon as next week to put the issue to rest before the midterm election. He called it a “very good compromise’’.
“Our members felt very, very passionate about having votes on policies they care about, and that is what we are doing,’’ he said earlier on Thursday. “So we’re bringing legislation that’s been carefully crafted and negotiated to the floor. We won’t guarantee passage’’.
The 293-page bill represents the kind of ambitious overhaul of the immigration system Republicans have long considered but have been unable to turn into law. It shifts away from the nation’s longtime preference for family immigration to a new system that prioritises entry based on merits and skills. It beefs up border security, clamps down on illegal entries and reinforces other immigration laws.
To address widespread concern over the sharp rise of families being separated at the border, the measure proposes keeping children in detention with their parents, undoing a two-decade-old rule which limits the amount of time minors can be held in custody.
Mr Trump has been supportive of the House GOP’s approach, but the legislation faces opposition from Democrats. It’s is unlikely to be approved in the Senate.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, called the legislation “nothing more than a cruel codification of President Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda that abandons our nation’s heritage as a beacon of hope and opportunity’’.
Advocates for immigrants said the changes to family detentions were particularly severe. Kerri Talbot, the policy director at Immigration Hub, called it a “wish list’’ from top White House immigration adviser Stephen Miller that “would allow the Trump administration to jail children for long periods of time’’.
GOP leaders have said they may take up the family detentions issue separately, if needed, as the crisis of children being separated from their parents continues. Administration officials have said they need more money for detention beds in order to house the influx of immigrations resulting from the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy of stepped-up border enforcement.