The U.S. House of Representatives on June 27 rejected an immigration reforms bill, with Republican members remaining divided over issues such as funding for the Mexico border wall, protection of immigrants from deportation and separation of children, and long-term support to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
The Border Security and Immigration Reform Act failed by 121 to 301 votes, marking a second unsuccessful attempt by divided House Republicans to agree on a compromise immigration legislation.
U.S. President Donald Trump had earlier posted a last-minute message on Twitter, urging lawmakers to pass the bill.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS THE STRONG BUT FAIR IMMIGRATION BILL, KNOWN AS GOODLATTE II, IN THEIR AFTERNOON VOTE TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THE DEMS WON’T LET IT PASS IN THE SENATE. PASSAGE WILL SHOW THAT WE WANT STRONG BORDERS & SECURITY WHILE THE DEMS WANT OPEN BORDERS = CRIME. WIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2018
After the rejection of the bill, Trump offered a message to Republican lawmakers.
“I want them to do what they want,” Trump said, CNN reported. “I told them a few hours ago, I said, ‘Look, pass something, or come back to something that would be a variation, but get something you want’,” he added. “The problem with that is that we need Democratic votes in the Senate and that’s why I don’t get overly excited with the House bill right now because it’s not going to pass in the Senate, you’re not going to get the Democrats to vote for anything. We can give them 100% of what they wanted, and double it, they still wouldn’t pass it.”
The rejection of the bill once again revealed the divide between the moderate and conservative leaders within the Republican Party over the issue, with several Republican conservatives arguing that it tilts in favor of undocumented immigrants.
“What we witnessed today was a minority of Republicans joining every Democrat in the House to double down on a failed, broken, inefficient, unfair and at times cruel immigration system,” congressman Carlos Curbelo, a Republican from Florida, said after the vote, the Guardian reported.
The Republicans are now expected to vote on a narrower legislation next month to end the “zero tolerance” policy launched by Trump in May, which sparked widespread uproar over separation of children from their families at the border. The policy allows prosecution of all adults entering the United States illegally, while their children are taken away and housed in separate facilities.
Though the two immigration bills have been rejected over the past week, the third legislation could pass the House, Republican Representative Mark Meadows, the head of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, said, according to Reuters.
About 100 Indians are among the immigrants detained in the United States over allegations of illegal entry into the country. While 52 Indians, mostly Sikhs from Punjab, are held at Sheridan prison in Oregon, 42 others are held at the Otero County Detention Center in New Mexico.