Rep. John Garamendi said Wednesday that he doesn’t see the current immigration bill moving very far in the House.
“We’ll see on the House side if Ryan is whipping the Goodlatte bill,” the California Democrat said on Fox News. “The chances are the answer is no from Democrats, and probably from a lot of Republicans.”
The bill, sponsored by GOP Rep. Bob Goodlatte, meets President Trump’s so-called “four pillars” for an immigration plan, but Mr. Garamendi said it’s unlikely to gain support from members of his party or even from Republicans.
He also said Mr. Trump’s demands are broad and vague on what he expects the final bill to look like. The four pillars include DACA protections, an end to the VISA lottery system and chain migration, as well as border security, including the president’s much-promised border wall.
“The president has flip-flopped on this issue a couple of times,” Mr. Garamendi said. “He seems to have settled down on these four pillars, which are broad words. The question is what do those words mean in final language of legislation.”
He also denied that Democrats are opposing legislation on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) — an Obama-era program that protects those brought to the U.S. illegally as children — for political purposes.
“Anytime that problems are solved with a good legislative solution it is good for all of us, both Democrats and Republicans,” he said.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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