House Republicans on Thursday were poised to reject legislation that would reform immigration policy, provide border security and end separation of illegal immigrant families.
Conservative and moderate opposition to two immigration reform bills was mounting Thursday morning, and key negotiators suggested even the compromise measure designed to collect more GOP votes was headed for rejection.
“I don’t know that there is enough time to work it out before the vote today,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who is head of the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative faction of Republicans.
There were no plans as of noon to cancel the vote, and Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., announced Thursday morning the House will move forward with the two bills.
When asked whether Ryan would take up a separate bill dealing with family separation at the border if the two bills fail, Ryan said, “we will cross that bridge if we get to it.”
He said the bills gave lawmakers a chance to express their views on immigration reform and called them “pretty darn good immigration measures,” that President Trump would sign. “We are giving members the ability to vote for the bill of their preference,” Ryan said.
But Meadows cited major “drafting errors” in the compromise bill as part of the reason he is not going to support the compromise bill, which Ryan wrote.
Meadows and conservatives are also angry that they are not going to vote on a modified version of a more conservative bill authored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.
But some moderates are also opposed to the legislation.
Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, said the bill provides too complicated a path to citizenship for Dreamers, who came here illegally as children. Hurd also opposes the border wall funding and says the bill does not adequately address family separations at the border.
“I’ve said time and time again that a long-term solution must be bipartisan, and I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle so that we can actually solve these problems once and for all,” Hurd said.
Meadows said the House now needs to take up a bill that would make it legal to keep children with parents who are detained for crossing the border illegally.
“If both of these bills fail it is incumbent upon us to circle back,” Meadows said.
