Ryan struggles on Dreamers as GOP fractures
The speaker is coming under pressure to take up a conservative immigration bill — but he doesn’t have the votes to pass it.
By RACHAEL BADE and JOHN BRESNAHAN 02/15/2018 05:01 AM EST
Speaker Paul Ryan is struggling to come up with a game plan on immigration — and staring down a conservative backlash if he makes the wrong step.
The Wisconsin Republican is under increasing pressure from hard-liners in the House Freedom Caucus to put a conservative Dreamer solution on the House floor. Chairman Mark Meadows said Wednesday that while he didn’t think there was talk about replacing Ryan at the moment, “there are certainly new conversations that would involve new leadership.”
“I can say that it is a defining moment for this speaker: If he gets it wrong, it will have consequences for him, but it will also have consequences for the rest of the Republican Party,” Meadows told reporters.
But many moderate Republicans are not on board with the conservative proposal, offered by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.). It does not provide a pathway to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants and includes a controversial provision to force employers to verify the legal status of their employees.
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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/15/paul-ryan-immigration-conservative-backlash-409685
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