Dreamers who came to the United States illegally as children would be eligible for newly created visas and citizenship in eight years under what some say is a tentative Republican plan to reform the nation’s immigration program.
But it’s not clear whether conservative and moderate Republicans fully agree on the proposal. Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the top conservative negotiator, said repeatedly Thursday there is no deal yet.
In contrast, Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., a moderate who wants to protect Dreamers, indicated there is a tentative agreement. He said he was in the room when the offer was made during negotiations, which took place in the office of Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and said either way, he wants a final agreement in writing by next week.
“We had a full discussion this morning,” Denham said, referring to a closed-door GOP meeting where the proposal was discussed. “It was very positive. This was the most positive discussion in my eight years within our conference.”
The proposal under discussion would allow 1.8 million people who qualify as Dreamers to obtain an eight-year visa and eventually apply for citizenship. The proposal would reform the current visa system, combining the new visas for Dreamers with the current visa lottery system, although Denham said it would not involve an overall visa reduction. It’s not clear whether the diversity lottery visas would be reduced or eliminated, which President Trump has supported.
Denham said the proposals would “combine some of the visas into one new visa program.”
The Dreamers proposal is at the heart of an effort by GOP leaders to write legislation that Republicans can pass as early as this month.
Ryan said the bill would have to include Trump’s four immigration reform requirements, which include a pathway to citizenship for the Dreamers, border security funding, an end to the visa lottery system, and limitations to chain migration.
They’re under real time pressure to get something done. Denham said he wants to see the Dreamer citizenship proposal in writing by Tuesday or he would use a discharge petition to force a June 25 floor vote on three proposals, including one he supports that would provide some border security in exchange for providing Dreamers a pathway to citizenship.
Republican leaders are eager to stop the petition and Denham said he has agreed, for now. The discharge petition requires 218 signatures to trigger a vote and is just a few short now, which Denham has held back. He won’t wait past Tuesday to see a deal in writing.
“We have firm deadline of Tuesday,” Denham said. “Tuesday we will hit 218.”
Any GOP-led deal would require agreement from most lawmakers in the House Freedom Caucus, made up of about three dozen conservatives.
“It’s a matter of putting it on paper and seeing if we have an agreement,” Denham said.
