House Dems Push Back on Immigration

The Hill

By Mike Lillis

January 13, 2015

House Dems push back on immigration

House Democratic leaders are whipping this week against two of the five GOP amendments designed to undermine President Obama's executive action on deportation.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday that a proposal sponsored by Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) that effectively blocks funding for the new policies, and another sponsored by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) to eliminate Obama's 2012 deferred action program benefiting younger immigrants, "are clearly unacceptable" to the Democrats and would guarantee a veto of the package.

"If the Aderholt amendment or the Blackburn amendment are adopted, which I hope they are not – … I hope the Senate rejects them – … there's no doubt in my mind the president will veto the bill," Hoyer said during a press briefing in the Capitol.

The Republican-led House Rules Committee on Monday adopted five GOP amendments as part of the debate on legislation to fund the Homeland Security Department (DHS) beyond February.

Aside from the Aderholt and Blackburn provisions, the panel approved amendments to prioritize deportation for domestic violence and sexual abuse offenders; to promote the hiring of U.S. citizens and legal residents over those in the country illegally; and prioritize people who came to the U.S. legally ahead of those who arrived illegally.

Hoyer downplayed the last three, characterizing them as "gotcha" amendments "of less substance" than the Aderholt and Blackburn provisions. 

The White House on Monday issued a statement threatening a veto of the DHS package if it includes "objectionable restrictions" on Obama's executive orders. But the statement is vague about which provisions, exactly, the administration deems objectionable enough to merit a veto.

Some Democrats are hoping that Obama would use his veto power if any of the five amendments reached his desk.

"If any of these poison pills are attached, I expect the president of the United States to carry out his veto threat, and I expect the Democrats to sustain that veto threat," Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said Tuesday. "There's an important number, and it's two-thirds, and they [Republicans] don't got it."

In the Senate, meanwhile, the Aderholt and Blackburn amendments aren't expected to get the 60 votes needed to pass through the chamber, leading to questions about what tamer provisions – if any – Republican leaders will try instead in that case.

Without congressional action, funding for the DHS will expire on Feb. 27.

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