The House has resumed debate on the emergency supplemental spending bill (H.R. 5230). House GOP leaders plan to add alternative changes in the 2008 human trafficking law and language to block the president’s executive amnesty, according to Roll Call.
A Republican staffer told Roll Call that a two-amendment package will be offered on the floor, the first of which amends the initial bill to add language from Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-Tenn.) H.R. 5160, which defunds the renewal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and prevents President Obama from granting work permits to additional illegal aliens. The amendment also include language from a bill by Republicans John Carter (Tex.) and Robert Aderholt (Ala.) that revises the 2008 law and allows surge aliens to be detained while they wait for deportation hearings.
The second amendment to be offered on the floor tonight includes language from Blackburn and Carter and incorporates language tightening up requirements for obtaining asylum, an area of substantial fraud. It would also remove the “preferred status” given to unaccompanied alien children and require applicants to seek asylum within one year of entering the U.S.
The House will begin by voting on another rule for tonight's debate, then take up the first and second amendments. The session is expected to extend well into the evening.
