Illegal Border Crossings Today:

House Passes Two FAIR-Opposed Amnesty Bills – How Did Your Representative Vote?

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FAIR Take | March 2021

In a previous legislative update, FAIR warned of two bills that the House of Representatives planned to vote on this week. These two pieces of legislation – H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act and H.R. 1603, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act – are recycled amnesty bills from the previous Congress.

Unfortunately, the House passed H.R. 6 by a vote of 228-197 and H.R. 1603 by a vote of 247-174. Taken together, these bills amnesty over four million illegal aliens at the worst possible time.

Many of you used FAIR’s Take Action alert to contact your elected officials and urged them to vote against these dangerous bills. Your actions had a direct effect, and we at FAIR appreciate all of you who took the time to contact your representatives. Stay tuned for an upcoming battle in the Senate.

H.R. 6 – the American Dream and Promise Act

This legislation grants a pathway to citizenship to around 3 million illegal aliens who are already in the country—which is well beyond the 700,000 or so active Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The bill also provides a pathway to citizenship to hundreds of thousands of migrants under temporary relief and humanitarian programs, including Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED). It also does not contain any immigration enforcement provisions to address the current crisis on the southern border.

Disappointingly, H.R. 6 passed by a vote of 228-197, with 9 Republicans joining all Democrats. Here is a list of the Republicans who broke from their party and voted in favor of this amnesty:

  • Don Bacon (NE-02)
  • David Valadao (CA-21)
  • Fred Upton (MI-06)
  • Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27)
  • Dan Newhouse (WA-04)
  • Fitzpatrick (PA-01)
  • Chris Smith (NJ-04)
  • Carlos Gimenez (FL-26)
  • Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25)

FAIR opposed this bill and will include the recorded votes on FAIR’s 117th Congressional Report, which details how often members of Congress vote with FAIR’s position.

H.R. 1603 – the Farm Workforce Modernization Act

This legislation grants a pathway to citizenship to around 3 million illegal aliens who are already in the country—which is well beyond the 700,000 or so active Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The bill also provides a pathway to citizenship to hundreds of thousands of migrants under temporary relief and humanitarian programs, including Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED). It also does not contain any immigration enforcement provisions to address the current crisis on the southern border.

Unfortunately, H.R. 1603 passed by a vote of 247-174, with 30 Republicans joining all but one of the Democrats. Here is a list of the Republicans who voted in favor of this farmworker citizenship giveaway:

  • Mark Amodei (NV-02)
  • Jim Baird (IN-04)
  • Cliff Bentz (OR-02)
  • Mike Bost (IL-12)
  • Rodney Davis (IL-13)
  • Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25)
  • Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01)
  • Andrew Garbarino (NY-02)
  • Carlos Gimenez (FL-26)
  • Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16)
  • Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03)
  • Chris Jacobs (NY-27)
  • Dave Joyce (OH-14)
  • John Katko (NY-24)
  • Doug LaMalfa (CA-01)
  • Peter Meijer (MI-03)
  • Dan Newhouse (WA-04)
  • Devin Nunes (CA-22)
  • Tom Reed (NY-23)
  • Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05)
  • Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27)
  • Mike Simpson (ID-02)
  • Chris Smith (NJ-04)
  • Lloyd Smucker (PA-11)
  • Elise Stefanik (NY-21)
  • Claudia Tenney (NY-22)
  • G.T. Thompson (PA-15)
  • Fred Upton (MI-06)
  • David Valadao (CA-21)
  • Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02)

FAIR opposed this bill and will include the recorded votes on FAIR’s 117th Congressional Report, which details how often members of Congress vote with FAIR’s position.

Outlook

Both amnesty bills now head to the Senate where Republicans are suddenly taking a hard line on immigration due to the crisis. At this time, we do not believe they have any chance of reaching the 60-vote threshold needed to advance legislation. However, if Senate Democrats choose to eliminate the filibuster – which many of their members want to do – then these bills could pass and become law. Until then, expect members of both parties to remain in smoke-filled back rooms negotiating from positions that are unacceptable to the opposite side.

 

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