Nevada’s Heller hopeful House will vote on immigration reform
After meeting with Latino leaders in Las Vegas, U.S. Sen. Dean Heller said Thursday he’s hopeful the House will vote on immigration reform this summer, although he said the “window is closing” on finding a legislative solution.
Heller, R-Nev., said he and more than a dozen other Republicans discussed immigration reform for 90 minutes last week over dinner with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the Senate minority whip, and U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., the House majority leader. The Nevada Republican said GOP leadership clearly wants to deal with immigration, including House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, but there’s a conservative minority who are resistant to holding a vote.
Heller, who was one of 14 Republicans who voted a year ago for a U.S. Senate bill on comprehensive immigration reform, said he isn’t giving up on pressing the issue when he returns to Washington, D.C. after a week-long Memorial Day break.
“Hopefully, we can get something done in the House of Representatives,” Heller told reporters. “I think the window is closing.”
President Barack Obama is threatening to take executive action on immigration if Congress doesn’t pass a bill by Aug. 1, according to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who also urged House passage earlier this week in Las Vegas. The president would likely halt or slow deportations after sending more than 2 million illegal immigrants home so far.
Obama has asked his Homeland Security chief to hold off on publicly releasing a review underway of U.S. deportation policies until the end of the summer to give Congress time to act on immigration reform.
Heller said he prefers that Congress actually pass a new immigration law because any presidential action can be reversed, including by the next president who will take office in January 2017.
“I want it to happen. I want something that’s permanent,” Heller said, adding he’s frustrated by the delays.
“Leadership says it wants something done … (but) nothing is getting done,” Heller said.
Heller’s comments came after he met privately with up to 40 leaders of the Hispanic community at the Latin Chamber of Commerce, including chamber members, lawyers, students and members of Hispanics in Politics.
The U.S. Senate bill would boost border security, revise visa rules to allow more high-tech workers and laborers into the country and provide an opportunity for 11 million illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens one day.
If the House did take a vote on comprehensive immigration reform, it’s expected to pass because of overwhelming support from Democrats and because enough Republicans now support fixing what they say is a broken system.
Reps. Joe Heck and Mark Amodei of Nevada are among Republican House members who favor reform. Although neither congressman has embraced a House version of the Senate bill, both have suggested they would support a package of separate bills dealing with different aspects of immigration reform.
Heller’s position has evolved on immigration from opposing what he called “amnesty” for undocumented immigrants to backing reforms aimed at streamlining the process and making immigrants pay back taxes and other penalties if they want to go to the back of the line to gain citizenship, perhaps more than a decade from now.
Last year, Heller said he voted for the Senate bill after lawmakers approved a major amendment that promised to install $46 billion in beefed-up border security before moving undocumented residents onto a pathway to U.S. citizenship.
Two Heller amendments sought by the tourism industry to ease implementation of an entry-exit system at the nation’s airports also were made part of the final Senate bill. Another Heller amendment granting Nevada a seat on a federal border security commission was approved as well.
Heller was elected to a six-year term in November of 2012, representing a state population that’s nearly 30 percent Hispanic. Before he joined the Senate, Heller represented the conservative 2nd Congressional District in Northern Nevada.
Earlier this week, Reid said he and other Democrats have agreed to have any new immigration law take effect in January 2017 after the next president is elected since Republicans don’t seem to trust Obama. He said it’s not his preference but he’s willing to deal with the GOP to get something approved this year.
It’s in Republicans’ interest too, Reid said, noting the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue, has predicted the GOP won’t be able to win the presidency unless immigration reform is passed. The Latino vote was key to Obama’s victories. Republicans need to gain a larger share of the Hispanic vote to win the White House in 2016.
Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Find her on Twitter: @lmyerslvrj.
