Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced this week that a “compromise” was reached late Tuesday evening on immigration legislation. Speaker Ryan guaranteed that two bills, including the Goodlatte bill would go to the floor next week under normal rule if the discharge petition was dropped. The Goodlatte bill includes funding for the border wall and an end the chain migration system as well as the visa lottery program.
As you recall, a discharge petition was introduced by Rep. Will Hurd, Rep. Jeff Denham, and Rep. Carlos Curbelo. Only three signatures were needed to have four Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) bills debated on the floor, one of those being Hurd’s USA Act bill - a bipartisan solution put forth by Rep. Hurd and Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA). The USA Bill would allow for DACA recipients and DACA eligible individuals to apply for work authorization, deferred deportation and legal permanent residence if they qualify. While the bill was not perfect, and included a proposed “smart wall,” we believed it was our real chance of a permanent solution to the DACA Program. Unfortunately, the bill will not see the light of day, at least not in the House. The discharge petition ultimately received 216 signatures, with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) signing on late Tuesday evening.
Speaker Ryan has been working hand in glove with members of the administration to make sure the president's priorities are included in legislation voted on the floor, and was confident that any other way forward would ultimately result in a presidential veto. The Speaker’s bill has not been made available just yet but is expected to be released in the next couple of days. However, the bill is said to be too conservative to make it over to the Senate. That could mean a permanent solution for DACA is not in the cards in 2018.
On Friday, June 1 the Chamber sent out a Call to Action asking members of the Board of Directors to reach out to Members of Congress and ask them to support the discharge petition and vote in favor of The USA Bill. Many of you took us up on that offer, got involved, and sent letters. Thank you for lending your powerful voice to this important issue. As of now, we have not heard the Senate having much of an appetite for either of the two bills headed to the floor next week.
We will continue to monitor the process and keep you up-to-speed. We appreciate our members who responded to our Call to Action and made calls and sent letters.
