Democrats target 30 House Republicans on immigration

By SEUNG MIN KIM | 4/15/14 12:47 PM EDT Updated: 4/15/14 5:45 PM EDT
POLITICO

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'We’ve waited for them to put something forward,' Rep. Joe Garcia says. | AP Photo

House Democrats are rolling out a new strategy to target 30 House Republicans on immigration reform during the two-week congressional recess, marking a last-ditch effort to force GOP action on a legislative overhaul.

The new pressure tactic includes a memo distributed to those 30 districts held by Republicans who have expressed public support for some sort of immigration reform, many of them backing a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Democrats hope the document — which highlights statements made by those Republicans in favor of reform, as well as data showing the district-specific economic impact of an overhaul — generates local coverage of GOP lawmakers whose party in the House has so far stalled bringing reform to the floor. The memo, which calls on Republicans to endorse a Democratic-led tactic to force a vote onreform, is also available in Spanish and Mandarin.

“We’ve waited for them to put something forward,” Rep. Joe Garcia (D-Fla.) said of House Republicans on a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. He called the latest Democratic tactic their “last effort” to do reform legislatively.

The Democrats’ move is a last-ditch effort partly because key lawmakers anticipate that the Obama administration will take some administrative action to stem the tide of deportations that have become a politically sensitive issue between President Barack Obama and the Latino community. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is leading the review on behalf of the administration.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is recommending that the Obama administration halt deportations for undocumented immigrants who would qualify for legalization under the Senate legislation that passed last June — a suggestion endorsed by the House’s top Democrat, Nancy Pelosi of California.

Garcia, who along with other CHC members met with Johnson last week, said the secretary sketched out a timeline that includes some short-term administrative “fixes” on enforcement policies “coming soon in the next few weeks,” along with broader policy changes to come later.

“We are providing yet another way through this memo and challenge to simply bring the bill to the floor, where it will pass,” said Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.).

The new tactic from Democrats came as the White House held a meeting with faith leaders Tuesday morning on immigration reform. Attendees include Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; Luis Cortes, Jr., the president of Esperanza — a network of Hispanic faith-based groups; and Dieter Uchtdorf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in North Salt Lake City, Utah.

“The president expressed deep concern about the pain too many families feel from the separation that comes from our broken immigration system,” the White House said in a readout of the meeting. “He emphasized that while his administration can take steps to better enforce and administer immigration laws, nothing can replace the certainty of legislative reform and this permanent solution can only be achieved by Congress.”

The 30 House Republicans targeted by Democrats include Mike Coffman of Colorado; Don Young of Alaska; Jason Chaffetz and Chris Stewart of Utah; Paul Ryan and Sean Duffy of Wisconsin; Spencer Bachus of Alabama; Jeff Denham, Darrell Issa, Devin Nunes and David Valadao of California; Greg Walden of Oregon; Michael Grimm and Peter King of New York; Mark Amodei and Joe Heck of Nevada; James Lankford of Oklahoma; Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania; Daniel Webster, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida; Raul Labrador of Idaho; Sam Johnson and John Carter of Texas, Aaron Schock of Illinois; Steve Pearce of New Mexico; Tim Griffin of Arkansas; Justin Amash of Michigan; Vance McAllister of Louisiana and Renee Ellmers of North Carolina.

Republicans are already viewing the Democrats’ tactic as a largely political move.

“Americans want Congress to take a step-by-step approach to solving this problem in a way that ensures our border is secure and our broken immigration system is fixed,” said Daniel Scarpinato, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “But Democrats seem more interested in playing politics than fixing the problem in a way that will actually work.”

Democrats are calling for a vote on their bill that largely resembles the comprehensive bill that the Democratic-led Senate passed almost a year ago with 68 votes. The House bill has three Republican co-sponsors — Denham, Ros-Lehtinen and Valadao – but all three have said they won’t sign a discharge petition on the legislation, which if successful would force a vote on the House floor.

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