The House of Representatives on Thursday will take up the 2018 farm bill, alongside immigration reform bills authored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. and Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., which would include a measure aimed at fixing the controversial family separation policy.
“I hope we will be able to pass this tomorrow,” Ryan said of his bill.
Lawmakers will vote for a second time on the Agriculture and Nutrition Act, an $867 billion bill authorizing farm programs and policy, as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program otherwise known as food stamps.
The bill failed in May after conservatives withheld their support over the lack of action on the Goodlatte immigration measure, which the leadership had long promised would get a floor vote. The Goodlatte measure limits immigration, legalizes about 700,000 “Dreamers” without a special pathway to citizenship, requires companies to use E-Verify and creates a program for immigrant agriculture workers. It is expected to fail due to a lack of support among more centrist Republicans.
Democrats oppose the farm bill because of a provision that bolsters work requirements for some food stamp recipients, but it is still likely to pass.
House GOP leaders are also planning a vote on a second immigration bill that is more moderate but similar to the Goodlatte measure. It would provide a special pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million Dreamers and does not include E-verify or a limit to immigration.
They have not set a specific time for considering the bill and aren’t even sure if it can pass yet.
Conservatives told the Washington Examiner after a closed-door meeting Wednesday the measure does not go far enough to limit chain migration. Specifically, it allows the parents of Dreamers, who brought children here illegally, to gain legal status.
Republicans said after the meeting it’s not clear whether the Ryan compromise bill has the votes to pass.
The measure includes a remedy that would allow immigrant children to remain in ICE detention centers with parents who cross into the country illegally.
President Trump said in a meeting with lawmakers Tuesday he would sign either bill.
The House farm bill isn’t likely to become law, because the Senate has authored a bipartisan bill that does not include food stamp reform.
