House Republicans leaders struck a deal with their top GOP immigration watchdog to ban the president from making changes to immigration policies in future trade deals.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in a letter to Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, that he plans to include immigration language in one of the four trade provisions scheduled for a Friday vote.
Ryan said the provision would “ensure that trade agreements do not require changes to U.S. immigration laws.”
Ryan’s letter came in response to a written request by King, who wrote that future trade pacts could involve an expansion of visas for foreign workers, which he opposes.
The House is scheduled to vote on the four trade provisions as early as Friday, including a “Fast Track” trade bill that the president is eager to sign into law. The legislation would provide Obama with expedited authority to secure international trade pacts, including a deal with 11 Pacific Rim nations.
Ryan agreed with King about the immigration language.
He has promised to add the provision to the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, known as the “customs bill,” which passed the Senate last month and aims to ensure that trade laws are enforced, including bans against currency manipulation.
House Republican leaders have scheduled a separate vote on the customs bill. If it passes, the legislation will have to be merged with a Senate version, which passed last month without the immigration language.
“Specifically,” Ryan wrote to King, “the effect of this amendment would be that any provision in new trade agreements that would obligate the United States to grant or expand access to visas would not be consistent with the negotiating objectives,” outlined in the customs legislation.
The move to include the immigration language has won over King, who said he now supports the overall trade deal, including the “fast track” bill.
In addition to the “Fast Track” and customs bills, the House will vote on a measure to provide aid to workers displaced by new trade deals as well as a bill that would extend trade preferences to sub-Saharan nations in Africa.
