Republicans leaders say they’ll put two immigration bills on the floor next week to satisfy GOP lawmakers divided over how to legalize Dreamers and reform the nation’s immigration system.
The House will vote on a bill favored by conservatives and authored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., which would legalize Dreamers, end the diversity visa program, require employers to use E-Verify, and establish a guest worker program. Lawmakers will also vote on a second bill that skews more toward moderates, who oppose E-Verify, do not want to reduce visas, and are seeking an eight-year pathway to citizenship for Dreamers.
The move ends the effort to bring a discharge petition to the House floor that would require a vote on a trio of bills, including two most of the GOP would not support.
[Related: Trump’s ‘four pillar’ immigration plan at center of new compromise bill in House]
“Members across the Republican Conference have negotiated directly and in good faith with each other for several weeks, and as a result, the House will consider two bills next week that will avert the discharge petition and resolve the border security and immigration issues,” a GOP leadership aide said Tuesday night.
The House gaveled out Tuesday without moderates providing the remaining signatures needed on the discharge petition to allow a vote in June.
Earlier in the evening, GOP lawmakers said they were close to a deal on an immigration reform bill to strengthen border security and protect Dreamers from deportation.
Moderates and conservatives met separately to determine if they could accept the terms of a proposal that would give Dreamers a pathway to citizenship in exchange for increased border security and immigration enforcement.
It appears that they failed to reach an agreement and instead each faction will have an opportunity to vote on a bill they favor.
Lawmakers from conservative and moderate factions Tuesday afternoon met in the office of Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who has been trying to broker a deal for days.
“We are not taking any positions,” Meadows said. “We are having real discussions about immigration and what to do.”
“We are going to keep talking,” Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., a GOP moderate negotiator, also said.
