[caption id=”attachment_131857″ align=”aligncenter” width=”750″] Rep. Mo Brooks (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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The pro-American worker caucus in the Republican Party defeated amnesty advocates Thursday evening.
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) led the charge against language in a defense bill that would have encouraged the Pentagon to consider allowing illegal immigrants with DACA permits to serve in the armed forces. His amendment passed 221-202.
Brooks’ main argument was that the language strengthened Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which Republicans have voted multiple times to end. It also would take jobs away from American workers.
“Each time an illegal alien takes an enlistment opportunity, an American or lawful immigrant loses an enlistment opportunity. The ratio is one-to-one. Period. That is the math,” Brooks said in a letter to his fellow House members.
Brooks faced opposition from Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.). Coffman hoped to drum up enough support to keep the language in the bill.
He could easily count on every Democrat and needed 30 Republicans to join him, but he only got 20.
The 20 Republicans who supported illegal immigrants in the U.S. military included many freshman Republicans like Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.).
One more person supporting the Democrats and Republicans trying to keep the language in the bill was candidate Hillary Clinton.
Her campaign released a statement saying that DREAMers who want to serve “should be honored and celebrated, not discriminated against.”
