A group of Republican lawmakers led by U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) have introduced a discharge petition to force a floor vote regarding legislative reform proposed for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.
During a May 9 press conference held outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., with several of his colleagues to announce the discharge petition, Rep. Curbelo called it an “historic step” in bringing Congress closer to “meaningful immigration reform.”
“The member-driven process that we have started,” he said, “is one that does not seek to accumulate power and does not seek to impose any one solution. On the contrary, it seeks to diffuse power and in doing so, to empower every member of the House so that they can play a meaningful role in this process.”
The goal, Rep. Curbelo said, is to bring all immigration measures to the House floor for a debate and then resolve the issue. Regardless of what lawmakers’ immigration priorities are, he continued, the discharge petition would set up a scenario whereby every member potentially could provide a DACA solution during the debate.
If the discharge petition receives 218 signatures, it would compel a debate and vote on House Resolution (H.Res.) 774, which U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) introduced on March 13 to set the rules for consideration of four immigration-related bills.
H.Res. 774 proposes to bring to the House floor the Securing America’s Future Act of 2018, H.R. 4760, and the Uniting and Securing America (USA) Act of 2018, H.R. 4796, which Reps. Will Hurd (R-TX) and Denham introduced on Jan. 16. H.R. 4796 would provide recipients of DACA protections, or Dreamers, pathways to earn permanent U.S. resident status by meeting educational, military or employment conditions. A plan from the House Republican leadership and the Dream Act of 2017 from lead sponsor U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), H.R. 3440, are the two other measures.
H.R. 4760, introduced Jan. 10 by U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to amend the U.S. immigration laws and the homeland security laws, has languished in several House committees since its introduction. Rep. Denham introduced H.Res. 774 to help speed up the pace, but the resolution also has been stuck in consideration by the U.S. House Rules Committee.
“Since the President’s call for Congressional action on DACA and other immigration policies in September of last year, the House has done nothing,” Rep. Curbelo said. “Congress should be motivated by courage – not inhibited by cowardice – in the pursuit of the legislative solutions the American people expect.”
The May 9 motion would discharge the House Rules Committee from considering H.Res. 774 and would allow members to debate the issue on the House floor under the “queen of the hill” rule, according to a statement from Rep. Denham’s office. The rule states that whichever proposal receives the most votes and meets the mandatory majority-vote threshold would be adopted, the congressman’s staff said. Denham’s office said on April 19 that the measure had a total of 240 cosponsors, enough to force a vote on the House floor.
“Congress must do its job and have the debate we have avoided for years,” said Rep. Denham. “My rule is about coming together in a bipartisan manner to find a compromise on a permanent solution for America’s Dreamers and responsible border security.”
As of May 10, the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives reported that among those joining Reps. Curbelo and Denham on the list of discharge petition signatories are Reps. Hurd, Charlie Dent (R-PA), Fred Upton (R-MI), Mark Amodei (R-NV), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), and Ryan Costello (R-PA). Democrat U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado also has signed the petition.
Lawmakers must seize this opportunity to gain operational control of the nation’s southern border and provide a permanent legislative fix for DACA recipients, said Rep. Hurd. “We cannot avoid action any longer and this is an important issue that the American people want debated on the House floor,” he said.
For more than a decade, added Curbelo, members of both parties have used the immigration issue for “petty partisan pursuits,” dividing the American public and putting immigrants in fear of deportation. “This time, let’s have a debate and produce a compromise that brings Americans together.”