By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
House GOP scrambles for votes
Placeholder Image
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans, scrambling to win conservative support for a bill addressing the immigration crisis on the border, have scheduled a companion vote on legislation to block President Barack Obama from extending deportation relief to any more immigrants here illegally.The late-night maneuvering Wednesday came ahead of a planned vote Thursday on a $659 million bill to send resources to the border and to speed the return back home of unaccompanied Central American minors who’ve been arriving by the tens of thousands. Conservative support was lacking with time running short before lawmakers’ annual August recess begins Friday.To answer conservative desires to block Obama on immigration, GOP leadership agreed to a vote to do just that. After voting on the border bill the House will consider legislation preventing Obama from expanding an existing program that’s granted work permits to more than 500,000 immigrants brought to this country illegally as kids and allowed them to stay here without threat of deportation.White House officials have indicated plans to unilaterally expand that program, perhaps to millions more people, in the wake of the House’s failure to act this year on a comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the Senate.