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Efforts aimed at offering “amnesty” to immigrants would be a “nonstarter” in a Republican-led House, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on Wednesday amid reports that the Senate is considering such measures.
McCarthy, widely viewed as the front-runner to become speaker if the GOP reclaims the majority in the midterm elections, vowed such proposals, reportedly being considered by Congress’s upper chamber despite outrage from the Right, “won’t be taken up by a House Republican majority.”
“Our border crisis is the worst in history, and the only immigration plan should be to secure the border and stop illegal immigration that’s fueling the worst drug crisis in history,” he continued.
CORNYN BOOED AT TEXAS GOP CONVENTION OVER SENATE GUN REFORM NEGOTIATIONS
Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Cornyn (R-TX) met with Senate Democratic negotiators in late April to outline a framework to restart talks on an immigration bill, the first step in what Tillis said would likely be a “series of meetings.” And Cornyn was observed earlier this week on the Senate floor telling Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) “first guns, now it’s immigration” after a procedural vote on bipartisan gun control legislation.
Although a spokesman for Cornyn later walked back the senator’s comment, claiming that his conversation with Sinema was “a joke” and that “there’s no immigration bill,” the backlash from the Right was swift. Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) wrote the House GOP is “united” with Republican voters in opposing “amnesty,” and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who is in line to lead the House Judiciary Committee in a Republican majority, also indicated he did not support “amnesty” proposals.
A wide swath of prominent right-leaning personalities, including Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance, and Donald Trump Jr., condemned Cornyn for his comments to Sinema and his apparent openness to immigration reforms.
Even Republicans who have previously supported compromises on immigration seemed supportive of McCarthy’s position. Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) told the Washington Examiner that while he believes “there is room to discuss important reforms to our immigration system,” those reforms do “not include amnesty in any way.”
“Any reforms to our immigration system cannot include migrants illegally in the United States cutting the line for citizenship or any special pathways for citizenship,” the congressman added.
Gimenez is one of a handful of Republican members of Congress who have previously supported some Democratic immigration proposals, including by being one of only nine House Republicans to vote for the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, which would have normalized the legal status of most benefactors of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals by granting long-term permanent residency.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Tillis and Cornyn have long been seen as supporters of immigration reforms. Last year, the two senators voiced support for granting permanent legal status to DACA recipients.
The Washington Examiner reached out to a spokeswoman for McCarthy seeking clarification on immigration legislation that he would support.
