Are Republicans ready to tackle immigration legislation? A House vote signals maybe
Conservatives who often fear associating themselves with legislation to expand legal immigration showed significant support Wednesday for a House bill that would do just that.
Thirty-four House Republicans joined all but three Democrats in voting for legislation that would allow undocumented agriculture workers to obtain legal status. Republican supporters hope the bipartisan vote will show there is some appetite within the GOP to tackle what has become one of the thorniest and most divisive issues for the party.
“It shows there is a truly critical need in agriculture throughout the United States to have a legal workforce and an adequate supply of legal labor,” said Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., of the significance of the 260-165 vote.
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which Newhouse helped negotiate, would provide a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants who have worked in the farm and agriculture industry for at least two years and plan to continue in that sector.
It also would make changes to the H2-A visa program, which farmers use to hire foreign nationals for seasonal work, to make it easier for employers to fill crucial workforce gaps while providing more protections for the workers themselves.
Republican supporters of the legislation are now hopeful the bipartisan victory will put some pressure on the GOP-controlled Senate to also consider and approve the legislation and then have the president sign it into law.
That won’t be easy. Congress has been unable to pass a bill making sweeping changes to immigration laws since 1986 and a senior White House official signaled in October the administration was unlikely to back this particular bill.
Republicans have typically been afraid to support legislation expanding legal immigration, fearful they’ll be accused of backing “amnesty” by vocal and influential anti-immigration activists. In the Senate, where Republicans are worried about holding their majority in 2020, these anxieties are exacerbated.
President Donald Trump’s own hardline stance on immigration has made it difficult for advocates of expanding legal immigration to make headway, even as he also has sent mixed signals about his interests in overhauling the system.
But Newhouse insisted the White House hasn’t shut the door on the bill entirely.
“The president has indicated strong support for doing something in this area,” said Newhouse. “I talked to him personally a couple of weeks ago and he was very supportive of the general idea.”
Newhouse also told McClatchy he had spoken to Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, who has been working for months on an immigration overhaul proposal.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, another chief negotiator on the legislation, said it could resonate with Trump because the president has been “very, very aggressive, very passionate” about helping farmers.
“This is the only game in town that has a chance to get to the Senate that deals with an issue that is critical to farmers,” the Florida Republican said.
The legislation was crafted over a 10-month period of secret bipartisan negotiations by veterans of past immigration overhaul efforts, including Diaz-Balart and California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren.
They were acutely aware that they needed to bring Republicans on board to succeed. Over the past weekend, GOP lawmakers worked the phone lines, assured by the United Farm Workers they would not lose the powerful union’s endorsement if they agreed to make modest changes to the measure in exchange for more Republican votes.
That so many Republicans were willing to join with Democrats at a moment of heightened political tension on Capitol Hill due to impeachment was also taken as a hopeful sign by supporters.
“If people, when they watch how nasty this place is on the news or the perception of it, if they can watch how this bill has been put together, they’d think, you know, have a little more faith in people being able to work together,” said Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., who worked on the bill. “It’s been kind of amazing. It makes me feel good.”
The attention on impeachment and a new trade deal may have led to some of the most vocal opponents of expanding immigration to become too preoccupied to fight on that front.
There was no formal crackdown from the White House or Republican leadership urging members to oppose the legislation.
Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee who had been publicly opposed to the legislation, laughed when asked whether he or others were planning an effort to unite colleagues in voting “no.”
“Frankly, I’ve been a little bit, if you haven’t noticed, tied up with something else,” he said.
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., one of the most vocal conservatives, said after the vote Wednesday evening the reason Republican leaders didn’t care enough to take an official position on the bill was simple: “It doesn’t have a chance of becoming law.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Are Republicans ready to tackle immigration legislation? A House vote signals maybe."
