Amodei responds to House not passing the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-02) released the following statement Wednesday after the House voted on H.R. 6136, the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2018. This legislation failed to pass the House by a recorded vote of 121-301.
“The status quo with respect to border security and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is unacceptable,” said Congressman Amodei. “I supported this bill because I refused to let perfect be the enemy of good. After 31 years of congressional inaction on immigration reform, and after seeing how hard certain Members have worked to bring this issue to the Floor, I refused to go on the record with a vote against today’s bill. When it comes to immigration, I will always choose policy reforms that will improve border security, reprioritize the allocation of immigrant visas, and prevent future illegal immigration over continued inaction.
“While I would have preferred more of my colleagues to join those of us who confirmed our dissatisfaction with the status quo by voting in favor of this bill, I am pleased that we were finally able to bring this issue to the Floor. For the first time since coming to Congress, I now have a work product to defend when I go home to my constituents. We’ve certainly got some things to balance out, but the solutions are out there, and I will continue to advocate in favor of these common-sense reforms.”