Some centrist Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are negotiating a bill to address the future of young immigrants known as “Dreamers,” who were brought to the United States illegally as children. However, a group of more conservative House Republicans has said they are closing in on a measure with tough new controls on legal and illegal immigration that would win President Trump’s support.However, that plan is unlikely to win over more moderate Republicans or Democrats. Today, President Trump rejected the push by moderate congressional Republicans for a “Dreamer” immigration deal, saying he would only back sweeping immigration legislation that met all of his demands, including a U.S.-Mexico border wall, according to a report from Reuters.
“Unless the bill includes a wall, and I mean a wall, a real wall, and unless it includes very strong border security, there will be no approvals from me,” the President told Fox News. Any bill would also have to end a visa lottery program and curb visas for legal immigrants’ relatives,” President Trump said.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Paul Ryan said he is working with the White House on a plan that the president would sign into law. Speaking to reporters today, Ryan said that members were still seeking a consensus but gave no timeline for any action. The plan, spearheaded by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, offers “Dreamers” temporary protections but not citizenship in addition to immigration curbs.
Moderate House Republicans wish to force a series of votes on four separate immigration bills in defiance of the House Republican leadership, hoping to join with Democrats to pull off a rare procedural maneuver. The bipartisan measure would put “Dreamer” immigrants on a path to citizenship and includes border security but no wall funding.
However, Speaker Ryan efforts to stop Republican moderates from forcing votes on immigration proposals is running into a familiar roadblock: conservative opposition to a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. Ryan and his top lieutenants have been playing shuttle diplomacy between conservatives who oppose any vote on a bipartisan solution for Dreamers and moderates who are demanding one.
A third immigration measure would simply protect “Dreamers” from deportation, while a forth measure from Ryan remains largely unwritten.
The 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program protects approximately 700,000 young adults from deportation and gives them work permits for two-year period, after which they must reapply.
