Republican leaders in the House of Representatives say if they do act on immigration reform this year, it won't be through a comprehensive bill but rather in a series of small bills on the issue. Most of the House's GOP majority is with them. But according to California's Hanford Sentinel, a third Republican in the lower chamber might break ranks and join Reps. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) in co-sponsoring a comprehensive overhaul which was originally co-signed by some 185 House Democrats.
"If my signing on to it helps move the [process] forward, I'm happy to do that," Valadao said yesterday at a press conference hosted by the National Immigration Forum in reference to HR 15, also known as "The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act". The California Republican added that he was still working with other House Republicans to see if an alternative piece of comprehensive legislation was possible. He also said he hoped that mounting efforts from conservative and business groups to push for immigration reform - with 80 House members in 40 states being targeted - would help sway House leaders to move on the issue before the end of the year. "There are a bunch of us getting nervous," Valadao said. "We do want to see something move forward."
According to Valadao's website, his parents immigrated from Portugal's Azores Islands to California's Central Valley in 1969. Fusion notes that the district he represents is 72 percent Latino - something he's got in common with the two House Republicans who have already signed onto HR 15. Rep. Jeff Denham's 10th congressional district, which encompasses much of the San Joaquin Valley, is 40 percent Latino, while Ros-Lehtinen's South Florida district is also mostly Hispanic. Ros-Lehtinen announced on Tuesday she would add her name to the bill, saying. "It's important to keep the conversation going in trying to fix the broken immigration system. I favor any approach that will help us move the negotiations forward. Other members may soon produce a bipartisan product that may also deserve support and I'm cautiously optimistic that we can pass meaningful immigration reform."
According to CNN, HR 15 incorporates the "ENLIST Act", a bill Denham helped write which would allow undocumented immigrants to serve in the US Armed Forces. The comprehensive bill would consist largely of the bipartisan Senate bill, which passed 68 to 32 in late June before stalling in the House, minus the "border surge" amendment on border enforcement. In the place of the latter would be the Border Security Results Act, which sets detection and surveillance goals along the US-Mexico border and requires Homeland Security to plan and implement them. HR 15 would preserve the earlier Senate bill's provisions extending a 13-year path to citizenship to undocumented immigrants living in the United States - a central part of the immigration reform effort for Democrats like President Barack Obama, who has said that any compromise must include a path to citizenship.
RELATED: Marco Rubio, Co-Author Of Senate Comprehensive Bill, Calls For Piecemeal Approach On Immigration Reform
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