USA TODAY International Edition
Congress shifts its focus to brutal immigration fight
Debate promised in Senate; House a tougher sell
WASHINGTON – Now, with two government shutdowns behind them, lawmakers will finally turn to the issue that’s been at the center of their dysfunction for months – immigration. Expect plenty more fireworks. House and Senate Republican leaders both say they will take up legislation to address border security and protections for so-called DREAMers, undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.
But while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has promised a free-flowing bipartisan debate beginning Monday, House Speaker Paul Ryan has only said that he will bring up a bill President Trump supports.
“I don’t want to just risk a veto,” Ryan, R-Wis., said Thursday. “I want to actually get it done the first time, and I think we can get there.”
His approach has drawn loud protests from Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who urged Ryan to guarantee an open debate on legislation — similar to McConnell’s pledge in the Senate — during her eight-hour marathon House floor speech Wednesday.
She opposed legislation to reopen the federal government after a brief shutdown Friday morning because it did not include protections for DREAMers. The spending bill ultimately passed the House with a 240-186, bipartisan vote.
“I’m greatly disappointed that the Speaker does not have the courage to lift the shadow of fear from the lives of these inspiring young people,” Pelosi said in a statement Friday after the vote.
It is not entirely clear what the president will demand in an immigration bill. His public statements have embraced a wide range of policy options.
“I don’t think the president has any idea,” said Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. “My personal opinion is he would much rather see us focus on a (border) wall, and he’ll use whatever leverage, and that’s not happening.”
Trump has said he won’t sign immigration legislation unless it addresses “four pillars”: legal protections for DREAMers, money for border security and a wall, changes to family based or “chain” migration, and an end to the diversity visa lottery program.
The White House released a framework last month that was quickly shot down by liberals and conservatives. The proposal would offer a path to citizenship for 1.8 million DREAMers, cut legal immigration by at least 25% and include $25 billion for a wall.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned Thursday that putting Trump’s bill on the House floor means “no immigration bill and no help for the DREAMers.”
“It will lose Republican votes as well as Democratic votes,” he said. “It won’t pass in the House.”
Ryan also has to grapple with the conservative members of his caucus. Before he became speaker in 2015, members of the hard-line GOP House Freedom Caucus say Ryan promised them he would not bring up an immigration bill that did not have support from the majority of House Republicans.
In September, Trump announced the elimination of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to protect these immigrants from deportation, setting a March 5 deadline for Congress instead to address their status through legislation.
Legal protection for DREAMers has broad bipartisan support, at least in principle. But it has proven very hard to get an agreement on legislation.
The issue led to a three-day government shutdown last month.
“I don’t want to just risk a veto. I want to actually get it done the first time, and I think we can get there.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan