House Republicans tried over the weekend to reach an agreement on an immigration bill, but became even more divided in the process, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said Wednesday morning.
“There’s still a divide and you could see it in the vote last week,” he said on Fox News. “And this week, there’s probably a little bit more of a divide.”
He said that just hours before the House was set to vote on an immigration bill from Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., which is expected to fail. Republicans are divided because conservatives want to limit the number of “Dreamers” who get a path to citizenship, and the more a bill moves in that direction, the more moderate Republicans come off the bill.
[Update: Paul Ryan’s immigration bill flops in the House as 112 Republicans reject it]
Scalise all but admitted there was no deal in place, a sign the bill will fail Wednesday afternoon.
“Clearly, we haven’t been able as Republicans to get an agreement on how best to do this, and that’s where the divide is,” he said.
Scalise blamed Democrats for failing to agree to any version of a bill that boosts border security, and said they remain fully opposed to building any part of President Trump’s proposed border wall.
“What the Democrats want is amnesty and open borders, and that’s really what it’s come down to,” he said. “And, they don’t want to build the wall.”
