A vote on a permanent solution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program can come as early as June 25. Congressional House members are just three signatures shy of the 218 needed to move four (DACA) proposals to the House floor for debate.
Earlier this month, Rep. Will Hurd (TX-23), Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) and Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) introduced a “discharge petition” in the House of Representatives. This rarely-used parliamentary procedure requires 218 signatures from Members of Congress to force a vote to allow Members to debate the issue on the House floor under the “Queen of the Hill” (most votes wins) immigration rule (H. Res. 774). According to the rule, the proposal receiving the most votes and meets the mandatory majority-vote threshold of 218 would be designated “queen-of-the-hill," and would seek final approval by the 240 members required to pass the full House of Representatives, making it “king of the hill,” to be sent to the Senate for action.
The USA Act (H.R. 4796), a bi-partisan bill co-authored by Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) and Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) would allow for DACA recipients and DACA eligible individuals to apply for work authorization, deferred deportation and legal permanent residence if they qualify.
Chamber President and CEO Richard Perez is asking Chamber members to support the discharge petition by contacting their friends in Congress - any congressional member throughout the country - and asking them to sign the petition and vote in favor of The USA Act (H.R. 4796).
The San Antonio-New Braunfels area has an estimated 5,600 DACA recipients. These are individuals who have gone through our public education system and are working, have served in our military, and/or have completed or are enrolled in our higher education institutions. We have invested in their education, and they in turn have been contributing to our community by creating jobs and building our tax base. They are business owners, employees, teachers, and our friends and neighbors. They buy homes, eat in our restaurants and shop in our stores. Simply put, they are part of our thriving economy.
As of May 29, the discharge petition has received 215 of the 218 votes required. This means we may see the discharged bills hit the House floor by June 25. Discharged bills can only be brought to the House floor on the second and fourth Monday of each month, and only when the House is in session. If the last three signatures are not obtained by next week, our last chance for a bill to make it through the Senate and onto the president’s desk in 2018 is July 23.
We have a real shot in this Congress to force the debate on DACA. While not perfect, it is a permanent solution.
To see who has signed on, click here. If you missed Congressman Hurd’s op-ed published this week in the San Antonio Express News, check it out here.
