Wall Street Journal
By Kristina Peterson
May 7, 2015
Conservative
House Republicans are fighting a provision in the annual defense policy
bill that would encourage the Pentagon to allow some immigrants brought
to the U.S.
illegally as children to enlist in the military.
The
language, added in committee to the annual defense authorization bill,
could once again put immigration at the center of must-pass national
security legislation in
the House, and put its leaders in a difficult spot. Earlier this year
conservatives attempted to use a homeland security spending measure to
block President Barack Obama’s executive action that shielded millions
of immigrants from deportation, but were forced
to back down when it became clear they couldn’t prevail.
In
this case, more than two dozen Republicans said in a letter to House
Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R., Texas) this week that they
will seek to remove the
provision. The group, led by Rep. Mo Brooks (R., Ala.) said the
amendment runs counter to previous House votes to end the president’s
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which shelters
many young people from deportation.
“Especially
in this time of increased terrorism, our national security should not
be threatened by allowing such controversial language on a program we
have rejected three
times as unconstitutional,” the GOP lawmakers wrote, warning that its
inclusion “is a severe threat to the passage” of the defense bill.
Mr.
Brooks said that if the Rules Committee doesn’t strike the amendment
when it considers the bill, he would offer his own amendment removing
the measure.
The
amendment from Rep. Ruben Gallego (D., Ariz.) was approved 33-30 by the
House Armed Services Committee last week with the support of the
panel’s 27 Democrats and six
Republicans. The panel’s chairman, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R., Texas),
opposed the measure because he believes the issue should be considered
in immigration legislation rather than a national security bill, said
his spokesman, Claude Chafin.
Mr.
Gallego, a Marine who served in Iraq, said the Defense Department can
already enlist noncitizens when it is “vital to the national interest”
and should not be held
back by the long-stalled partisan fight over how to rewrite immigration
laws.
“We
shouldn’t let our broken immigration system stand in the way of our
military’s recruitment goals,” Mr. Gallego said in remarks last week. “I
fought in Iraq and I know
that on the battlefield what matters isn’t whether you have the right
papers, it’s whether you have the right skills and the right character.”
The
six Republicans who supported Mr. Gallego’s amendment were Reps. Mike
Coffman of Colorado, Chris Gibson of New York, Frank LoBiondo of New
Jersey, Tom MacArthur of
New Jersey, Martha McSally of Arizona and Ryan Zinke of Montana.
Last
year in a related push, Rep. Jeff Denham (R., Calif.) attempted to
offer an amendment to the defense policy bill letting people brought to
the U.S. illegally as children
gain legal permanent residence after serving in the military. But Rep.
Eric Cantor (R., Va.), then the majority leader, indicated he wouldn’t
allow a vote on the measure, in a rare example of House leaders publicly
weighing in on an amendment decision.
Typically,
the House Rules Committee’s chairman decides which amendments may
receive votes on the House floor in consultation with House leaders and
relevant committee
chairmen. The House conservatives are seeking a floor amendment to
remove the provision.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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