Dismal vote count finds they don’t yet have votes to pass the bill.
President Joe Biden’s sweeping immigration overhaul is unlikely to come up before the House this month with top Democrats unable to find votes to pass the bill on the floor, according to a media report.
The issue of what to do with Biden’s comprehensive immigration plan has bedeviled Speaker Nancy Pelosi since a dismal whip count this week, Politico reported.
“So now Democrats are moving ahead with an alternative plan: Move the Biden bill through committee while the full House votes on more targeted immigration legislation that already enjoys broad caucus support.” it said.
House Judiciary Committee chair, Jerry Nadler, confirmed the path forward, calling the Biden proposal both “important and serious,” Politico said.
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“We need to engage in some consultation with key members and stakeholders, but I see no reason why we wouldn’t mark it up when we reconvene in April,” Nadler told Politico in a statement .
Indian American House member Pramila Jayapal, who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), acknowledged to Politico that “it’s difficult because of the schedule.”
But she vowed that “at the same time, we’re pushing very hard” to lend momentum to Biden’s sweeping proposal.
“It’s like we have three pedals, and we’re pushing every one of them with just as much strength,” she was quoted as saying referring to a pair of other, more targeted immigration bills that will hit the floor in two weeks.
Democrats were already planning to take up some of their most popular immigration proposals in the coming weeks — one to protect the undocumented population known as Dreamers and another to reform the system for farm workers, Politico said.
Both have bipartisan support, including strong backing from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and CPC, and could soon see floor votes in the Senate, Politico said.
But some members of the CHC say those bills aren’t enough because they don’t go nearly as far as Biden’s plan.
As Democrats move quickly toward a piecemeal immigration strategy, some corners of their caucus have begun to seek changes to the Biden plan.
Some moderates, for instance, are pushing to include a provision requiring employers to confirm workers’ legal status — known as e-verify, Politico said.
Progressives, meanwhile, want some tweaks to ensure the bill doesn’t disqualify people from citizenship because of minor infractions on their criminal record.
It’s not clear yet which changes might be made to the bill. The Biden administration has repeatedly expressed a willingness to consider more tailored immigration measures that Democrats can get to the president’s desk, Politico said.
A White House official was cited as saying the administration was in “regular touch” with lawmakers on immigration reform and would continue to hold briefings on Biden’s immigration priorities as Congress considers proposals.
The biggest fear for many progressives, however, is what could happen to the bill to win over the party’s centrists, either in the House or when the bill crosses over to the Senate, Politico said.
“We don’t want this bill to be watered down before it gets to the floor, which is sometimes what happens with immigration bills,” Jayapal was quoted as saying.
Immigration advocates have, according to Politico, argued that failing to act on the issue could come back to haunt them politically, leaving Democrats vulnerable among their base in 2022.