WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans with moderate views on immigration defied party leaders and took steps Wednesday toward forcing election-year House votes on the issue, and one top maverick said they had enough support to succeed.
The rebellious lawmakers are pushing the House to vote in June on four bills including a bipartisan compromise, a conservative proposal and a liberal plan. Many of the legislators demanding action face potentially competitive re-election races in November in congressional districts with large numbers of Hispanic, suburban or other voters with pro-immigration views.
The move comes after a heated fight early this year over helping young immigrants in the country illegally. Competing bills, including one backed by President Donald Trump, collapsed in the Senate and never received votes in the House. Both parties had seemed ready to turn the battle into a campaign issue, with Democrats accusing GOP candidates of being anti-immigrant and Republicans accusing Democrats of being soft on illegal immigration.
But Republican immigration moderates wary of being politically exposed if the House abandons the issue have continued pushing leaders for votes and on Wednesday seemed to have momentum in their favor. A group of them filed a petition that would force votes on immigration if they gained the signatures of 218 House members, a majority of the chamber’s full membership.
“Congress hasn’t done its job. So I’m going to force the issue,” Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., a leader of the effort to force the votes, said in an interview. Another leader of the group, Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., whose South Florida district is about three-fourths Hispanic, was first to sign.