WASHINGTON — House conservatives forced a fight over immigration Thursday as Congress debated an annual defense policy bill, pushing to remove a minor provision they said encourages amnesty.
The nonbinding provision would express that it is the position of the House that the Pentagon should review whether certain immigrants brought illegally to the country as youths should be able to serve in the military.
The measure was added to the $612 billion defense bill during committee consideration by Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, with the support of a half-dozen Republicans.
But two dozen House conservatives led by Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama pushed an amendment Thursday to remove the language, arguing it encourages “illegal aliens” who remain in the country under unconstitutional Obama administration policies.
“To jam this amnesty provision into the (National Defense Authorization Act) goes beyond the pale in playing politics with national security,” said James Jay Carafano of the conservative Heritage Foundation, which warned lawmakers it would count their vote on the amendment in its ratings of Congress. “This literally destroys the credibility of the NDAA as must-pass legislation that the nation needs to provide for the common defense. “
Gallego and fellow Democrats reacted angrily, accusing Republicans of attacking immigrant communities.
“At some point they will demand that anything related to immigrants without papers, even a research project, be declared an amnesty and stripped from legislation,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. He warned Republicans they were pursuing the issue at their political peril heading into a presidential election year where Hispanic voters will play a significant role in several states.
“If you give the restrictionists a vote or a hearing on every crazy idea they come up with you will be relegated as a party to being a provincial party … you’ll never win the White House,” Gutierrez said.
