Immigration Bill Defeated Pt 2

Immigration Bill Defeated Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. A House bill, put forward by Republicans, that addressed border security and immigration reform was voted down Wednesday.

Representative Dan Newhouse was part of a group that worked to include amendments aimed at improving our ag labor problems hitting Northwest growers especially hard.

He says while it was decided to leave out the ag labor provisions, the vote was still terribly disappointing and an opportunity missed ...

NEWHOUSE ... "As you know, we've been working for years on a solution for the DACA issue. This gave those young people that certainty that they've been clamoring for and that over 80 percent of Americans believe that we should provide and it truly is a head-scratcher why we find ourselves in the position we are today."

Newhouse says while it was a "compromise bill" it was pretty much just between Republican factions ...

NEWHOUSE ... "And the reason for that, you know, the Democrats, for the most part, have said that they just cannot accept the President's requirements, what he feels are necessary. So, they've pretty much taken themselves out of any negotiation equation right off the bat."

But, Newhouse says the defeat does not mean it's a dead issue ...

NEWHOUSE ... "There again, I'm sure I've said this before, it's not going to be easy. We really will have to work very hard with members from both sides of the aisle to get this accomplished."

The final vote count of 301 against and 121 in favor of came about when nearly half of all Republicans and EVERY Democrat voted against the measure.

Newhouse and his colleagues are still working on a separate ag labor bill.

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