U.S. House rejects a hard-line immigration bill, delays a vote on another one.
Immigration bill fails to generate enough support
WASHINGTON — House Republicans struggled to round up enough votes Thursday to pass sweeping immigration legislation that would fund President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall, address family separations on the border and offer protections for young immigrants brought into the country illegally as children, continuing an impasse that has vexed Congress for more than a decade.
With debate underway for a final showdown vote, GOP leaders abruptly postponed consideration of an alternative bill until next week, giving the Republican conference time to huddle on immigration legislation for the second time this week. Even then, prospects for passing a compromise appeared dim.
The House voted down a more conservative Republican alternative led by Houston-area Republican Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. The 231-193 vote included “no” votes from 41 Republicans, including immigration moderates and hardliners.
Two Texans joined the GOP dissenters: Will Hurd, a San Antonio Republican who sided with the moderates, and Louie Gohmert, an outspoken immigration hardliner from Tyler.
The legislative push came a day after Trump, bowing to a public outcry, reversed his policy of separating children from parents detained for crossing the border illegally. But Republicans, trying to break a years-long deadlock on immigration, border security and the so-called Dreamers, have failed to rally around a solution that can win the support of their House majority.
The second bill, slated for a vote next week, came out of talks between GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan, moderate Republicans and hardline conservatives represented by the Freedom Caucus on Wednesday night. It was unclear if Ryan and Trump could rally enough votes to pass it.
The GOP leadership’s compromise would grant approximately 1.25 million DACA-eligible immigrants temporary legal status — renewable every six years — with a potential path to citizenship.
Rep. Pete Sessions, a Republican from Dallas, said GOP lawmakers are offering a fair and compassionate compromise.
“They address the issues on coming out of the shadows and they give permanent legal status that gives them options for the rest of their lives,” he said. “I think what we have done is more than we were asked.”
The compromise legislation also would allow the indefinite detention of children with parents facing legal proceedings for crossing the border illegally, creating the legal fix Trump has sought to end the family separation crisis that has rocked his administration for the past week.
In a series of impassioned floor speeches, though, Democrats focused on the prospect of indefinite detention for immigrant children whose parents are caught up in the legal system.
“Neither the latest order from the ever-vacillating Trump nor pending House Republican legislation will keep innocent children out of lock-up,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat whose district stretches from San Antonio to Austin. “Both are heartless and toothless.”
The Republican compromise measure would create new restrictions on legal immigration and provide $25 billion for a border wall, both measures likely to face stiff resistance by Senate Democrats, who have enough votes to block them even if the GOP bill clears the House.
Hurd, whose West Texas district encompasses 800 miles of the Mexican border, including the new tent detention camp for teen immigrants at Tornillo, indicated Thursday that he also would vote against the compromise legislation, partially due to the funding for the wall.