Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Pushes DACA Immigration Bill
Richard Cowan, Reuters, April 17, 2018
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A bipartisan group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers scheduled a press conference on Wednesday to discuss their plans to force debate in the full House on a few different proposals for helping the estimated 800,000 immigrants.
They are expected to announce that they have more than 218 House members on board with moving ahead with a bipartisan bill.
That is the minimum number needed in the 435-member House to pass bills.
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A House Democratic aide with knowledge of the maneuverings said an announcement of the supporters was aimed at pressuring House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, to move to either bring such legislation to the House floor or to intensify high-level negotiations on crafting a new compromise bill.
Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong, said in an emailed statement, “We continue to work to find the support for a solution that addresses both border security and DACA.”
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Strong added that Republicans already have made “good-faith offers” to protect the young immigrants. Those offers, which included significant reductions in legal immigration that are being sought by the Trump administration, were rejected by Democrats.
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Under one strategy being weighed, the House could debate the bipartisan bill, along with two or three other alternatives. A similar debate played out in the Senate last February, with all the measures failing to win enough votes to advance.
