Hispanic GOP caucus leaders optimistic immigration deal is around the corner
Anna Giaritelli
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The two lawmakers atop the Congressional Hispanic Conference are confident that House Republicans will reach an agreement on how to proceed on major immigration and border security legislation in the near future.
Co-Chairmen Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Tony Gonzales (R-TX) said on Tuesday they are optimistic that the GOP’s leadership will not push a bill to the House floor without it going through the normal processes — a move that would ensure a proposal has enough backing from Republicans.
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“We’ve been in the midst of negotiations of trying to get a serious bill across the house,” Diaz-Balart said during a press conference outside the Capitol in Washington early Tuesday.
“I’m confident you’re going to see a bill that will get the sufficient votes in the House to pass the House so then we can continue the negotiation conversation with the Senate.”
The comment comes ahead of the House Judiciary Committee’s plan to take up one such proposal, the Border Security and Enforcement Act of 2023. Gonzales has been the most outspoken opponent of the proposal from Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) on the basis that it would bar asylum-seekers in a way that goes against American values.
“What you’re seeing is regular order, and in regular order, the committees shake things out — there’s a markup process,” Gonzales said. “I am confident leadership will not bring anything to the floor that does not have the votes to pass.”
The House Homeland Security Committee is also slated to mark up another bill next week.
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Gonzales said both committees’ markups were not the end of the caucus’s actions on immigration and border security, but only its first steps.
“Whatever happens tomorrow, next week, next month out of the House is only the start,” Gonzales said. “There has to be conversations on the Senate side, which I’ve been having and others have been having — have to be conversations with the White House that I’ve been having, and I’m sure others have been having.”