House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul touted a conservative immigration bill Sunday ahead of Congress’s vote this week on legislation that would shield children brought to the country illegally from deportation.
His comments come as President Trump is set to meet Tuesday night on Capitol Hill with Republican lawmakers to discuss two pieces of legislation, but one is more moderate than the other. The president has hinted he favors the more conservative measure.
The Texas Republican helped draft the more conservative bill with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Virginia Republican, which he said addresses the president’s concerns with illegal immigration, including: an end to chain migration and the visa lottery, a solution to the Dreamers threatened by deportation and also border security.
The moderate one, drafted by House GOP leadership, reportedly limits the Goodlatte bill by shielding chain-migration and providing amnesty to the children brought here illegally to more than 1.8 million Dreamers.
“This is a historic opportunity to advance a conservative agenda we have been trying to do for the last 25 years — to structurally change the way we do immigration and make it more merit based rather than random,” Mr. McCaul told Fox News.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.