UPDATE: Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-2) voted Wednesday in favor of H.R. 240, the FY 2015 Homeland Security Appropriations bill, which included amendments to defund the President’s executive action on immigration. Nevada Sen. Harry Reid said the legislation, which passed 236 to 191, would put national security at risk.
The vote makes good on the House Republican strategy to use a three-month Continuing Resolution to delay a vote on the DHS appropriations bill until that time it could be passed and sent to a Republican-controlled Senate in the 114th Congress.
“I understand patience is in short-supply these days, but for those individuals who insisted the CRomnibus funded the President’s executive amnesty, which it did not, we have followed through and kept our word,” said Amodei in a press statement.
Reid issued the following statement after House Republicans passed a bill limiting the Department of Homeland Security budget to block the implementation of President Obama’s executive action:
“Republicans have only been in control for a week and already they are picking an unnecessary political fight that risks shutting down the Department of Homeland Security and endangering our security. Republicans should stop playing games and pass a clean bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security because the pointless, political bill passed in the House today will not pass the Senate.
“House Republicans voted to tear families apart and deport young people who came to this country as babies. Tearing families apart does nothing to secure our borders, fix our broken immigration system or strengthen our economy. This is not a game and it is time for Republicans to take their responsibility to govern seriously, instead of playing to the most extreme voices in their party,” said Reid.
Highlights of the bill include:
— Prevents funds to be used to carry-out executive actions announced on Nov. 20, 2014 to grant deferred action to an estimated four million undocumented immigrants.
— Defunds the administration’s prosecutorial discretion memos.
— Declares that no funds may be used to carry-out any substantially similar policies to those defunded.
— Makes clear that defunded programs have no statutory or constitutional basis and therefore no legal effect.
— Defunds ability of undocumented immigrants to receive Federal benefits based on these policies.
— Ensures that sex offenders and domestic violence perpetrators are priorities for removal by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
— Expresses sense of Congress that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) should stop putting interests of undocumented immigrants ahead of legal immigrants.
“It is worth reminding everyone, as we go forward to hopefully deal with the reform of legal immigration, that Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 of the Constitution states, ‘The Congress shall have power to… establish a uniform rule of naturalization.’ I have been a strong advocate for the reform of legal immigration. I have also said repeatedly the President’s executive actions are not the answer. The solution lies with Congress and I will continue to push for a vote. To those who think grandstanding executive orders are a substitute for leadership, instead of working with Congress to cultivate solutions, we now find ourselves in a deeper, more polarized divide,” said Amodei.
