Immigration negotiations between House GOP conservatives and moderates have stalled, dramatically boosting the chances that a discharge petition on Dreamers will reach the House floor in late June. That would give Ryan and other party leaders more time to search for a compromise once the discharge petition countdown clock starts. In giving Dreamers a pathway to citizenship, it would satisfy the top demand of moderates. That plan, at least, would avoid the embarrassment of a Democratic-backed immigration bill passing the Republican-led House, a likely outcome if the discharge petition moves forward.
Immigration negotiations between House GOP conservatives and moderates have stalled, dramatically boosting the chances that a discharge petition on Dreamers will reach the House floor in late June.
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and other top Republicans will meet with the moderate and conservative camps on Tuesday for a final shot at a deal, though Republicans on both sides of the issue don’t see much chance of one happening.
The last-ditch effort by House GOP leaders comes after moderates balked at conservatives’ demands for beefed-up immigration enforcement measures in return for hardliners’ support for a new path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of Dreamers.
Indeed, top Republicans from the House Freedom Caucus told moderates that they’re unlikely to have an agreement by Tuesday. That is the moderates’ self-imposed deadline to garner the 218 signatures to bypass GOP leaders and force votes on Democratic-backed bills related to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Yet GOP leadership aides note that a floor vote on DACA won’t occur until June 25 under a discharge petition. That would give Ryan and other party leaders more time to search for a compromise once the discharge petition countdown clock starts.
In discussions over the weekend that included party leaders as well Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) and Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), among others, enforcement mechanisms under the new immigration proposal remained the biggest stumbling block to a deal.
Freedom Caucus members and other immigration hardliners want to dramatically expand the use of E-Verify, the federal online system for checking individual employees’ eligibility to work in the United States. The system is currently voluntary unless a state requires it or the employer is working on a federal contract.
The Freedom Caucus wants the use of E-Verify to be mandatory for all companies with 50 or more employees, a move opposed by the White House and business groups.
Another key issue is reform of the U.S. asylum system, which immigration opponents believe has been routinely abused. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Monday that victims of domestic abuse or gang violence may not qualify for asylum. Sessions said there are about 700,000 immigration cases outstanding in federal courts as asylum claims have soared in recent years.
"Border security – and that is to include things well beyond any appropriations for wall funding – remains the biggest stumbling block," said Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the Freedom Caucus. "Most conservatives want to make sure if we deal with this DACA issue, we’re not having to deal with it again in another decade from now. That’s why the enforcement issue is so critical."
With the immigration talks deadlocked, attention has shifted to moderate Republicans, who are prepared to join with Democrats and force a DACA vote in defiance of Ryan and President Donald Trump.
The focus is on Reps. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) and Daniel Newhouse (R-Wash.), who have considered joining with the two dozen moderates and Democrats to force bipartisan votes on Dreamers.
In a Sunday night interview, Ross said he wanted GOP leaders to promise a vote on a guest worker program by Tuesday or he will likely join the 215 lawmakers who have already signed onto the discharge petition.
“If it takes bucking our party to take this issue and bring it to the forefront, then I’ll do it,” Ross said. “If we don’t do the discharge petition, than this issue just fades away in the sunset. That’s my concern.”
Newhouse’s office did not return multiple requests for comment on Monday.
One Democratic holdout, Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, has declined to sign the discharge petition because he opposes any plan that would provide funding for Trump’s border wall. But Cuellar is expected to come around if Newhouse and Ross add their names.
“My Republican colleagues need to get two additional signatures in order to bring this to a vote. If they are able to do so, then I will consider signing onto the petition,” Cuellar said in a statement Monday.
In a significant development last week, conservatives and moderates had appeared to coalesce behind a new visa program for Dreamers and other types of immigrants floated by Labrador. In giving Dreamers a pathway to citizenship, it would satisfy the top demand of moderates.
But conservatives, who for years have railed against a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, wanted certain enforcement measures included in the bill. On Friday, conservatives laid out some of those demands, including broader use of E-Verify and changes to the asylum system.
“There are things that have to be in the bill to ensure that illegal immigration does not increase and we don’t have a crisis 10 years form now,” Labrador said.
Moderates are now privately accusing conservatives of shifting their demands after the framework of a deal had been agreed to. Conservatives counter that there never was an agreement in the first place.
“Typical Freedom Caucus,” scoffed one moderate GOP source.
Senior GOP aides point to Ryan’s recent comments that any deal should focus on the four pillars outlined by Trump earlier this year: a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, border security and changes to current policies governing diversity visas and family-based immigration. GOP leadership wants to avoid more divisive issues, such as expanding E-Verify.
Republican sources say they’re still hoping to bring compromise legislation to the floor, even if falls short of passage as expected. That plan, at least, would avoid the embarrassment of a Democratic-backed immigration bill passing the Republican-led House, a likely outcome if the discharge petition moves forward.
“At this point the goal is really to allow both sides of our conference to be on the record with their position while averting the discharge petition,” a senior GOP aide said Monday.
But it’s unclear what incentive Republican moderates have to go along with such an idea – assuming a compromise can even be reached – if the bill is expected to fail on the floor.
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