Cantor Won't Allow Immigration Amendment on Defense Bill

Wall Street Journal

By Kristina Peterson and Laura Meckler

May 16, 2014

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304908304579566342385662658

WASHINGTON—House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) indicated Friday he won't allow a vote on a proposal to let people brought to the U.S. illegally as children gain legal permanent residence after serving in the military.

A spokesman for Mr. Cantor said Friday that the measure, known as the Enlist Act, wouldn't be considered as an amendment to the annual defense policy bill. The comment came days before the House Rules Committee gives its official decision on which amendments will be put up for votes.

Mr. Cantor's decision on the amendment comes at a time of conflict between conservative lawmakers and their leaders on immigration. Last month, House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) apologized to House Republicans after publicly mocking some lawmakers' reluctance to tackle an immigration overhaul.

Preventing a vote on the narrow immigration bill from Rep. Jeff Denham (R., Calif.) further casts doubt on the House's appetite for considering any broader immigration overhaul this summer, as some have hoped. President Barack Obama said earlier this week he saw a "narrow window" this summer when the House could act before the dynamics of this fall's midterm elections render an immigration rewrite politically impossible.

Mr. Cantor has backed the idea of enabling some illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. at a young age to become legal residents and potentially citizens, which some other Republicans have said they support. But conservatives had lately bristled over Mr. Denham's legislation, saying illegal immigrants should not be given the chance to take American military jobs.

Mr. Denham is planning to offer his legislation as an amendment to the defense bill, his spokeswoman confirmed earlier Friday.

House leaders rarely weigh in publicly on which amendments will be considered days before the Rules Committee has made its decision. The panel's chairman typically makes decisions on which amendments may receive votes on the House floor in consultation with House leaders and relevant committee chairmen.

Mr. Denham, who faces a tight re-election race in a district won by President Barack Obama in 2012, tried to get the legislation included in last year's defense bill, but agreed to withdraw his amendment amid complaints from other Republicans. He said last month he expected this year it would receive a vote.

If accepted, the amendment would have marked the first legislation granting some form of legal residency to illegal immigrants considered by the full House. The Senate passed a broad, sweeping immigration rewrite last year.

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