Immigration Hawks Prepare for Tuesday Showdown on House Border Bill
By Joel Gehrke
July 28, 2014 7:57 PM


Immigration hawks are preparing for a final closed-door showdown Tuesday morning over the House Republican border crisis package produced by Texas Representative Kay Granger’s working group before the legislation is unveiled for the public.

The latest critique circulating among opponents of the package is that Rebecca Tallent, a former staffer to Senator John McCain (R. Ariz.) who currently works for House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio), has played a significant role in drafting the Granger proposal.

“[Tallent] is writing the House plan for Kay Granger,” a well-placed congressional source. “She more than almost anyone has her fingerprints on President Obama’s immigration plans and is very close with the amnesty community, with the White House, with Democratic offices.”

A GOP leadership aide rejected the suggestion that the Granger group’s proposal is a liberal brainchild.

“The proposal is being developed by the members of the working group, which includes notable conservatives like Rep. Salmon,” the aide said, referring to Representative Matt Salmon (D., Ariz.).

The leadership aide also downplayed the significance of the Tuesday morning House Republican conference meeting, saying that “the border will likely be a topic, but not the only one.”

The opposing source said that immigration hawks see the conference meeting as a crucial fight in the final week before the August recess,

“The conference meeting tomorrow will decide what direction things go in,” the source said. “It’s important to understand that Becky Tallent is writing the plan, not the Republican conference. She is to the left of the Republican Party on immigration and there’s a good chance there will lot of awful stuff tucked in there as a result.”

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