GOP moderate: Tentative immigration deal with conservatives
WASHINGTON — A leader of House Republican moderates said Thursday that a tentative deal with conservatives was being discussed to help young “Dreamer” immigrants stay in the U.S. legally. Conservatives said later that no agreement has been reached, underscoring how elusive it has been for the GOP to resolve its long-running schism over the issue.
The proposal was described the same day that House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said leaders will craft an attempt at compromise on the issue that Republicans could embrace and vote on soon. Ryan is hoping an accord would derail threats by the GOP centrists to force a series of votes on immigration this month that leaders say would be divisive and damage the party’s electoral prospects in November.
The flurry underscored the escalating pressure Republicans face to address immigration, an issue pitting centrists representing Hispanic and moderate voters against conservatives with deep-red constituents sympathetic to President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant outbursts. Painfully aware of those divisions, leaders had seemed happy to sidestep the issue until the moderates’ rebellion forced their hand.
Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., said that under an offer from the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, young immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children could get a new visa that would let them stay in the country for eight years. He expressed uncertainty over what would happen after that, but said participants have characterized the proposal as a bridge to the legal immigration system — which suggests a pathway to remaining in the U.S. permanently.