House hits cusp of votes on immigration bills
WASHINGTON — House advocates for moderate immigration policies stood at the cusp of forcing votes on bills that would give young undocumented immigrants a pathway to U.S. citizenship — even as President Donald Trump threatened to veto any legislation that did not hew to his hard-line views.
Backers of a “discharge” petition that would spark an immigration debate over the wishes of House Republican leaders stood five signatures short of reaching the necessary 218 after two Republicans and six Democrats added their names Thursday.
They signed as conservative and moderate Republicans negotiated with House leaders to avert the discharge — and hours after Trump responded to the effort by pledging to veto any bill that does not build “a real wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Unless it improves a wall, and I mean a wall, a real wall, and unless it improves very strong border security, there’ll be no approvals from me, because I have to either approve it or not,” Trump said during a Fox News interview taped Wednesday and aired early Thursday.
Even with Trump threatening a veto, House Republican leaders want to avoid a messy floor showdown over immigration — an issue that has badly split their party for years. Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Thursday acknowledged “very good conversations” but refused to say whether he supports a key demand from the dischargers: a vote on a bill that would create permanent legal status for young immigrants, known as Dreamers, who arrived in the United States illegally as children.
“We’re trying to find that sweet spot,” Ryan said. “We’re not going to negotiate through the media.”
GOP Reps. Tom Reed, N.Y., and Brian Fitzpatrick, Pa., signed on Thursday. The discharge proponents said they remain prepared to gather the remaining signatures next month, after Congress returns from a week-long Memorial Day break.
Rep. Carlos Curbelo, RFla., who filed the petition and is among the leaders of the effort to force immigration votes, said he believes that the break will make Republicans more likely to sign on when they return.
“If there’s an agreement before we get to 25 (Republican signatures), that’s the only thing that will impede our progress,” he said. “We will get to the number we need to get to.”
Whether an agreement is possible remains in serious doubt. Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., who has been involved in the talks as chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said negotiations were on hold pending the recess, with a key question unresolved: whether to allow a vote on a bill granting permanent legal status for young immigrants — one that, by implication or not, would give them a path to citizenship.
“Is it a special pathway or not? That’s where the hang-up is,” Walker said.
One bill favored by moderates would give young immigrants a 10-year path to becoming a legal permanent resident, also known as “green card” status, from which they could go through a two-year process to receive citizenship. Curbelo said “a bridge into the legal immigration system is crucial.”
Rep. Patrick McHenry, N.C., the GOP chief deputy whip who has been closely involved in the effort to quash the discharge, said the talks will come to a head when lawmakers return to Washington next month. The backers effectively have until June 9 to gather support if they want to force votes by the end of next month.
While 190 House Democrats have signed — including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Calif., and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, Md., who joined Thursday — three are holding out over concerns about Trump’s border wall.
All three — Reps. Henry Cuellar, Vicente Gonzalez and Filemon Vela — represent Texas border districts where the wall is unpopular, and they fear that an immigration debate with Republicans in the House majority would simply pave the way for wall funding.