Trump tweets, hard-right voters hamper GOP immigration push

The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Republican apprehension over President Donald Trump’s next tweet and fear of riling conservative voters are undermining GOP leaders’ election-year struggle to shove an immigration bill through the House this week, leaving their prospects dubious.

Party leaders are trying to finally secure the votes they need for their wide-ranging bill with tweaks they hope will goose support from the GOP’s dueling conservative and moderate wings. But more importantly, wavering Republicans want Trump to provide political cover for immigration legislation that’s despised by hard-right voters. His recent statements on their bill and history of abruptly flip-flopping on past health care and spending measures have not been reassuring.

Last Tuesday, he privately told House Republicans that he backed their legislation “1,000 percent” and would protect them during their campaigns, lawmakers said. By Friday, he was tweeting that “Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration” and wait until after the November elections, when he said the GOP would approve tougher legislation because it will gain strength in Congress. That proposition is dicey at best.

May also interest you: Trump: Won’t sign ‘moderate’ immigration bill in GOP setback

“I think that the best way to pass legislation is to consistently support a position and help move it forward,” Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, a senior House Republican. Asked if Trump was doing that, Walden pivoted toward a door and said, “I’ll leave it at that.”

Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday” that he talked to the White House on Saturday and “they say the president is still 100 percent behind us.”

The bill would make citizenship a possibility for “Dreamer” immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. when young. It would also finance Trump’s aspirational $25 billion wall with Mexico and curb government agencies from wrenching migrant children from detained parents.

The measure is the product of weeks of bargaining between party conservatives and moderates. Even so, the two GOP factions have been unable to resolve their final differences and vote-counters have yet to round up a majority. Republicans are getting no help from Democrats, who uniformly oppose the legislation.