Heck, Amodei break from GOP to support DREAMers

WASHINGTON – Nevada’s two Republicans in the U.S. House broke from their party on Friday and voted to uphold President Barack Obama’s program that allows young undocumented immigrants to be exempted from deportation.

Reps. Joe Heck and Mark Amodei were among only 11 Republicans who split off as their colleagues supplied the majority in a 216-192 vote against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that has granted two-year work permits to roughly 580,000 so-called DREAMers, young people brought illegally into the U.S. as children.

Heck’s vote in particular was being closely watched. The two-term lawmaker faces a re-election challenge in a swing district with a substantial number of Latino and Asian immigrants, and his opponent, Democrat Erin Bilbray, has sought to elevate immigration reform as an issue.

A year ago Heck voted in favor of a bill that sought to cut funding for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which Obama established in 2012 through an executive order. Heck said he opposed Obama acting unilaterally, and urged the House t0 address the issue on its own.

In a statement Friday, Heck said he still does not agree with Obama “going around Congress” to implement the program. But, he added, “I cannot in good conscience vote to close the door on those individuals who have been given the opportunity to make a life for themselves in the only country they have ever known.”

Amodei said through spokesman Brian Baluta that retroactivity provisions in the Republican bill were ambiguous and would only add to confusion surrounding immigration reform.

Nevada Reps. Steven Horsford and Dina Titus voted with Democratic colleagues to support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

The program “has provided over 10,000 Nevada DREAMers the opportunity to pursue their American Dream, in the only country they have ever known, without fear of deportation,” Titus said. “For more than a year, House Republicans have blocked any action on immigration reform. Now, catering to the radical right, they show their true colors by telling DREAMers’ they are not welcome in their own home.”

Nevada’s lawmakers split along party lines on an earlier bill Friday. The House voted 223-189 for a Republican bill spending $694 million to address the surge of unaccompanied minors being held at the southern border.

Heck and Amodei voted for the bill, saying it would humanely address the crisis. Horsford and Titus voted against it, arguing it was not a legitimate fix.

Contact Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @STetreaultDC.