House leaders sell immigration blueprint
Republicans discussed immigration reform at their Thursday retreat. | AP Photo
CAMBRIDGE, Md. — The House Republican leadership is trying to
sell their colleagues on a series of broad immigration principles,
including a path to legal status for those here illegally.
Speaker
John Boehner’s leadership team introduced the principles at their
annual policy retreat here. Top Republicans circulated a tightly held
one-page memo
titled “standards for immigration reform” toward the tail-end of a day
that include strategy conversations about Obamacare, the economy and the
national debt.
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In the private meeting where the language was
introduced, Boehner (R-Ohio) told Republicans that the standards are “as
far as we are willing to go.”
(
PHOTOS: House Republican retreat)
“Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that for her caucus, it is a special
path to citizenship or nothing,” Boehner said, according to a source in
the room. “If Democrats insist on that, then we are not going to get
anywhere this year.”
Boehner said the standards represent “a fair, principled way for us to solve this issue.”
The strategy marks a shift for House Republicans. In 2013, Boehner’s
chamber ignored the bipartisan immigration reform bill passed by the
Senate. But toward the end of last year and early this year, Boehner,
Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) began hashing out this approach to rally
Republicans toward reform.
“It’s important to act on immigration reform because we’re focused on
jobs and economic growth, and this is about jobs and growth,” Boehner
said in his pitch in the closed meeting. “Reform is also about our
national security. The safety and security of our nation depends on our
ability to secure our border, enforce our laws, improve channels for
legal entry to the country, and identify who is here illegally.”
(
PHOTOS: Immigration reform rally on the National Mall)
Embracing legalization is a modest change for Republican leaders —
some of them signaled openness to the idea last year. For a Republican
Party that advocated “self-deportation” as recently as 2012, it’s a
massive shift.
Some Republicans fear of the political fallout from immigration
reform, but the proposal suggests GOP leaders are taking the long view:
Republicans need to woo the booming Hispanic population to stay
relevant.
At the private meeting where the proposal was unveiled, lawmakers
talked about their distrust that President Barack Obama will enforce the
law, according to sources inside of the room. Ryan and Boehner spoke in
favor of the effort, but high-profile conservatives like Rep. Tom Price
(R-Ga.) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) were more suspect of the
reform push.
“Nobody, even those who want to get this done, trusts the president,”
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) said in a phone interview Thursday
evening. “And I understand it, because I don’t either.”
(
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But legislation on some of the key components of the principles, most
notably the legalization part, have not been released and it remains to
be seen how the full set of principles are received by rank-and-file
House Republicans — many who have been skeptical of acting on
immigration reform this year.
The principles stress that undocumented immigrants will have to go
through the current immigration system and complete several
prerequisites. Criminals will not be eligible for legalization.
“These persons could live legally and without fear in the U.S., but
only if they were willing to admit their culpability, pass rigorous
background checks, pay significant fines and back taxes, develop
proficiency in English and American civics, and be able to support
themselves and their families (without access to public benefits),”
according to a draft of the document.
A broad swath of pro-reform groups — from the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce to the liberal-leaning America’s Voice — welcomed the
principles. But one concern already being raised by Democrats and
immigration reform advocates off Capitol Hill is language in the
principles that call for “specific enforcement triggers” to be in place
before undocumented immigrants can get on the legalization track.
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That section is meant to make sure that the Obama administration —
and future presidents — enforce any immigration laws that Congress may
pass. One of the most prominent immigration actions from Obama has been
halting the deportations of young undocumented immigrants who qualify,
known as Dreamers — a move that was done without the blessing of
Congress.
But Democrats and advocates worry those “triggers” will be overly
restrictive — preventing millions of undocumented immigrants from
beginning the process to become legalized.
“It leaves them vulnerable to deportation for God knows how long,”
Kevin Appleby, the director of migration policy for the pro-reform U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in an e-mail.
Ana Avendaño, the director of immigration and community action for
the AFL-CIO, also called the trigger issue a “serious concern” for the
labor group. In a statement, the AFL-CIO called the principles “flimsy.”
(
Also on POLITICO: John Boehner blasts Barack Obama on trade)
The leadership’s principles do treat young undocumented immigrants
differently, however. House Republican leaders declared that lawmakers
should give a pathway to legal residence and citizenship for young
immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children.
“For those who meet certain eligiblity standards, and serve honorably
in our military or attain a college degree, we will do just that,” the
document says.
The blueprint is also silent on whether the broader undocumented
population will ever be able to apply for permanent residency — and
eventually, citizenship — by using pathways that currently exist for all
immigrants. The principles rule out a so-called “special” pathway to
citizenship — meaning a separate track for undocumented immigrants that
isn’t available to other immigrants.
The document — drafted by leadership with input from key GOP
lawmakers who have been working on immigration — also makes clear that
the House will not negotiate with the Senate on its comprehensive bill.
In fact, GOP leadership has already begun laying out the differences
between the House’s approach and the Senate’s bill.
“The problems in our immigration system must be solved through a
step-by-step, common-sense approach that starts with securing our
country’s borders, enforcing our laws, and implementing robust
enforcement measures,” the document’s preamble reads.
The pathway outlined in the principles does not open up until the
nation’s borders are secure. Securing America’s borders has long been a
major issue for House Republicans — but how that can actually be
accomplished was a major issue in passing the Senate measure.
The document lays out policies beyond legalization. Republicans want
to implement a biometric system to track those in the nation on a visa.
The GOP wants to implement a “workable electronic employment
verification system.” And the principles also call for an overhaul to
the legal immigration system that’s focused on economic needs, rather
than family ties.
The one-page list of principles has been one of the most hotly
anticipated documents in recent memory. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), one
of several key senators who led the immigration reform process in that
chamber, said with the House GOP leadership’s overhaul blueprint, “the
door is open.
“While these standards are certainly not everything we would agree
with, they leave a real possibility that Democrats and Republicans, in
both the House and Senate, can in some way come together and pass
immigration reform that both sides can accept,” Schumer said.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), another member of the so-called Senate
Gang of Eight, praised House Republicans on moving forward on
immigration reform by releasing their principles.
“And if [Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)] hadn’t gotten control of his
conference, this wouldn’t have happened,” McCain said. “So maybe there
is a silver lining in the shutdown … I’ve been digging for that pony for
a long time.”
Manu Raju contributed to this report from Washington and Seung Min Kim reported from Washington.
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