After months of debate, negotiations, inflamed rhetoric and intraparty bickering, the immigration debate in Congress stalled for a second time Wednesday after House members shot down GOP leadership’s last-ditch effort to find “compromise” in the lower chamber.
House lawmakers voted 121-301 Wednesday afternoon against a bill Republican leadership rolled out Monday evening they hoped would pass within a GOP conference that is bitterly divided over the best way to address the nation’s immigration problems. Seven members did not vote.
Members voted June 21 on a bill from GOP Reps. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia and Michael McCaul of Texas that included border security funding, only granted “Dreamers” a temporary protected three-year legal status with no pathway for citizenship and E-verify. Goodlatte’s bill was struck down 193-231.
President Donald Trump urged members to pass leadership’s proposal Wednesday morning, arguing it would show that Republicans “want strong borders” and are committed to immigration reform.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS THE STRONG BUT FAIR IMMIGRATION BILL, KNOWN AS GOODLATTE II, IN THEIR AFTERNOON VOTE TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THE DEMS WON’T LET IT PASS IN THE SENATE. PASSAGE WILL SHOW THAT WE WANT STRONG BORDERS & SECURITY WHILE THE DEMS WANT OPEN BORDERS = CRIME. WIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2018
The bill was never expected to pass, though. Its fate became increasing clear as leadership watched Republican after Republican announce their opposition in the days and hours leading up to the vote.
Some Republicans blame the president for mixed messaging over the course of two weeks, oscillating between outrightly urging lawmakers to pass a bill that he would support “1,000 percent” and arguing that members should wait till after the midterm elections to deal with immigration. (RELATED: Here’s How Much Trump Pivoted On Immigration In 116 Hours)
The hangups were many, dealing outgoing Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Republican leadership the near impossible task of finding a bill that could pass the lower chamber with 218 votes. Knowing the odds weren’t in their favor, leadership promised members the bill would come up for a vote Wednesday on the floor.
By and large, the Democratic line was to vote against any immigration measure that funded border security and did not give a legal pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who came the U.S. as children, known as “Dreamers.”
Republicans wanted immigration reforms, but factions within the conference hold completely, arguably uncompromisable, visions for America’s immigration system.
Moderate Republicans, like their Democratic colleagues, want to see “Dreamers” protected, meaning a legal pathway to citizenship. Many represent districts that rely on agricultural labor and have high immigrant populations. Others are in slightly red-leaning areas, which is why they aren’t with the majority of the Republican conference.
Conservative Republicans, who have characterized moderates’ proposals as “amnesty,” want to see full funding of the president’s border wall, E-verify for American small businesses, and an end to the Obama-era diversity visa lottery program, chain migration and sanctuary cities, among other things.
Leadership’s bill included a six-year, renewable legal status for “Dreamers,” who would then be able to apply for a merit-based visa and subsequently citizenship.
The bill also included funding for the border wall and provisions to end the separation of children from their parents who illegally immigrated to the U.S. — a Trump administration policy that sparked immediate backlash from Democrats and Republicans alike.
As a last-minute sweetener for conservatives, moderates toyed with including E-verify in the leadership bill, offering a 100-page amendment to include the measure in the compromise bill. Ultimately, moderates withdrew the offer after it became clear it wouldn’t win over conservatives and for fear it would cause blowback in GOP districts with large agricultural sectors.
Conservatives, like House Freedom Caucus co-founder Jim Jordan of Ohio, would like to see a return to negotiations on a bill House lawmakers struck down last week. The bill, known as Goodlatte/McCaul, garnered 193 “yes” votes — a notably larger sum than leadership’s compromise bill mustered Wednesday.
In a nutshell, the conservative position is any piece of legislation must deal with the flow of illegal immigrants into America that have crossed the southern U.S.-Mexico border for decades and address America’s immigration problems long-term (i.e. border wall, asylum and visa reform, chain migration, etc.). (RELATED: Democrats Protesting Immigration)
Leadership is toying to put forth a standalone proposal, like that of Republican Reps. Dave Brat of Virginia and Mark Meadows of North Carolina, to address the family separation issue. How Democrats would vote on that potential bill, given their calls for the president and Republicans to fix it, remains to be seen.
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