Thread: GOP rejects Dream Act-like deportation deferrals

GOP rejects Dream Act-like deportation deferrals

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) walks to a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press / June 6, 2013)

By Lisa MascaroJune 6, 2013, 12:15 p.m.

WASHINGTON – On a party-line vote, the Republican-led House voted Thursday to prohibit funding for President Obama’s Dream Act-styled program that temporarily halts the deportations of young immigrants if they have served in the military or are attending college.
The 224-201 vote offered a view of the resistance of House Republicans to the immigration overhaul that has gained momentum in the Senate. The measure offered by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who is among the chamber’s most hardened opponents of a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million people living in the country without legal status. The vote came as House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) sought to reach out to Latinos with an op-ed Thursday that touched on immigration reform in the Spanish-language newspaper La Opinion.
“This mean-spirited vote shows that House Republicans have a tin ear for politics and cold hearts when it comes to compassion for young people who have only known America as their home,” said Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat who has championed legal status for young immigrants. He called the House vote “shameful.”
U.S. immigration law: Decades of debate
King sought to end what he calls the Dream Act “light,” the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which was put in place last summer and has been enormously popular in the immigrant community. The program allows young people who apply to gain temporary legal status and avoid the risk of deportation for two years.
The deferral program was largely seen as a stopgap alternative to the Dream Act, failed legislation that would give the young people a route to citizenship. The Dream Act is included in the bipartisan Senate immigration overhaul. Young people who call themselves Dreamers have become prominent in the immigration debate.
“Whatever people think of the impending immigration policy here in the United States, we cannot allow the executive branch to usurp the legislative authority of the United States Congress,” King said during this week’s debate. “If we allow that to happen in immigration, it could happen to anything.”
Three Democrats joined Republicans in approving the amendment, which is tacked onto a must-pass bill to fund the Pentagon and other defense accounts. It would prevent funding for the Department of Homeland Security to use discretion in deportations. A half-dozen Republicans, including those from districts in California and Florida – some with large Latino populations – voted against it.
PHOTOS: The debate over immigration reform
Except for the Senate bill’s bipartisan drafters, other Republicans have been cool to the legislation. Top Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a key author, have been working to bring Republicans on board. But a meeting with House Republicans this week showed little interest.
Boehner and Republican leaders have been nudging their party toward an immigration overhaul, as they try to reach out to Latino and minority voters that have largely abandoned the party.
“Making the process of becoming a legal immigrant fairer and more efficient will help America remain a magnet for the brightest minds and hardest workers,” Boehner wrote in the Spanish-language paper.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-gop-rejects-deportation-deferrals-20130606,0,5055504.story

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10:21 pm - June 08, 2013 — Updated: 10:23 pm - June 08, 2013


By Peter Urban

Stephens Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, came under fire last week from the White House after he succeeded in winning House approval for a measure aimed at derailing a bipartisan immigration reform deal at work in the Senate.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney issued a statement denouncing the King measure that would strip protections for so-called “Dreamers,” or undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. at a young age by their parents, from being deported.

“This amendment, sponsored by Rep. Steve King, runs contrary to our most deeply-held values as Americans. It asks law enforcement to treat these Dreamers the same way as they would violent criminals. It’s wrong. It’s not who we are. And it will not become law,” Carney said.

The House voted, 224-201, Thursday morning in favor of King’s amendment to defund presidential orders that allow immigration enforcement officials to focus deportation efforts on illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes. Six Republicans opposed it while only three Democrats supported it.

King, a Republican, said that the policies promoted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton grant administrative amnesty to illegal aliens. The amendment he offered to a Homeland Security spending bill would prohibit the so-called Morton memos.

Moreover, King said, that the amendment provided the first test for this Congress on immigration.

“My amendment blocks many of the provisions that are mirrored in the Senate’s ‘Gang of Eight’ bill. If this position holds, no amnesty will reach the President’s desk,” said King, who represents Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, which includes Story County and Ames.

The Senate Judiciary Committee in May approved legislation that would create a path to citizenship for 11 million unauthorized immigrants, boost border security and streamline the visa program.

The bill, which was initiated by four Democrats and four Republicans, will be on the Senate floor for debate this week.

The DREAM Action Coalition, which advocates for undocumented youth, issued a statement Thursday strongly condemning House Speaker John Boehner for allowing a vote on King’s amendment.

“The fact that the amendment passed the House of Representatives demonstrates a lack of control by Republican leadership who is allowing the chamber to be whipped by Tea Party fringe voices,” the group said.

http://amestrib.com/sections/news/am...amendment.html