Wall Street Journal
By Kristina Peterson and Laura Meckler
June 09, 2018
WASHINGTON—Leaders of centrist and conservative factions in House GOP negotiations over immigration said Friday they were coalescing around one of two options for handling the so-called Dreamer population.
The more popular option would create a new visa program that would reward immigrants for meeting certain benchmarks to allow them to become citizens, though lawmakers were vague about what those would be. A key part of this proposal is that it would be available to other immigrants beyond the Dreamers, in an effort to make it more palatable to conservatives opposed to a “special” path for the young immigrants to become citizens. The term Dreamers refers to young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and are living here without authorization.
“If you’re a Dreamer…you would know you’re immediately protected, meaning you would never again have to worry about deportation as long as you follow this country’s laws,” Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R., Fla.) said after the latest negotiating session Friday. “You will have a bridge onto the legal immigration system.”
The second option would be closer to what Democrats have often proposed, Mr. Curbelo said, which is typically a 10- to 12-year pathway to citizenship.
The two options were mapped out on paper Thursday night, according to lawmakers involved in the discussions.
President Donald Trump last year ended an Obama-era program shielding the Dreamers from deportation, but a federal court has ordered the administration to continue the program for now. It isn’t clear what Mr. Trump would think of the latest House GOP proposals, and his endorsement would be needed to help give political cover to conservatives who don’t want to be seen as endorsing amnesty for immigrants.
Lawmakers were still arguing Friday over other steps their legislation should include for tightening border security and beefing up enforcement. In addition to funding for a wall along the border with Mexico, conservatives are pressing for changes making it harder to pursue an asylum claim, used by people who fear persecution in their home countries, and punishments for so-called sanctuary cities, which don’t fully assist federal authorities seeking to remove illegal immigrants.
“If there’s going to be a normalization of people who came here illegally at some point, and we don’t handle all those other things, we’re just going to have more people coming here illegally,” Rep. Scott Perry (R., Pa.) said as he left Friday’s negotiations.
Lawmakers said they intended to continue their discussions next week and that the talks wouldn’t be derailed if a parallel effort to force a series of immigration votes on the House floor reaches its threshold number on Tuesday.
Centrist Republicans, many of whom are in close re-election races this fall, and Democrats have been adding signatures to a discharge petition that, if supported by 218 lawmakers, would trigger votes on a variety of immigration proposals on the floor. The petition must secure 218 signatures by Tuesday in order to tee up votes on June 25.
The centrist Republican leaders of that effort said they were confident the petition, which currently has 215 signatures, would attract the final three needed by Tuesday. Their goal is to preserve that route as an option in case the negotiations with conservatives break down.
Rep. Mark Meadows (R., N.C.), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of roughly three-dozen conservative Republicans, said the negotiations could continue right up until June 25, when the discharge petition would trigger votes on other immigration bills.
“The only hard and fast deadline is June 25,” he said. “Whether they get 218 [signatures] on Tuesday—and I fully anticipate that they will—that doesn’t mean we can’t get a different deal and put it on the floor before June 25.”
Even if the centrist and conservative GOP leaders can reach a deal, it isn’t clear that it would attract enough GOP support to pass the House. Or, even if it did, that it would then clear the Senate, where bipartisan support would be required.
Frank Sharry of the immigrant-rights group America’s Voice, predicted Friday that no agreement reached among House Republicans would ever become law.
“It’s not about protecting Dreamers. It’s about protecting Republican incumbents,” he said.
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