House votes to block Obama’s executive actions, end DACA

The House voted Wednesday to fund the Department of Homeland Security but attached measures to block President Obama’s immigration orders that shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation.

Passage of the nearly $40 billion funding bill fell largely along party lines with a vote of 236-191, after House Republicans approved five controversial amendments. One amendment would block funding for the implementation of Obama’s recent executive actions on immigration. The measure passed by a vote of 237-190.

Another amendment would cut off funding for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that allows undocumented youth to stay and work in the United States. More than 600,000 young undocumented immigrants have been approved for the DACA program, but their applications for renewal would be denied under the House-approved amendment.

SEE ALSO: Democrats plan to help immigrants as Republicans ‘play politics’

House members approved the amendment to essentially end the DACA program by a 218-209 vote. A total of 26 Republicans joined Democrats to vote against it. Among those Republicans were Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen from Florida, David Valadao from California, and Mario Diaz-Balart from Florida.

Prior to that vote, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) noted in a speech on the House floor that last year Republicans supported a path to citizenship for undocumented youth if they met certain requirements, including undergoing a background check.

“One year later, you want to take away from 600,000 Dreamers their right to live in this country and to live legal,” Gutierrez said to Republicans. “You want to deport them all. What happened? If that’s what happened in one year, what are you going to come up with next year?”

But the DHS funding bill as amended faces a murky future in the Senate. It is unlikely to pick up the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. And even if the Senate were to pass the bill, the White House has already said Obama would veto it.

Still, Republicans are moving forward with their efforts to block Obama’s plan that protects up to 5 millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation.

SEE ALSO: White House issues veto threat on DHS funding bill

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) took to the House floor just before the vote on the DHS funding bill to say House members should vote for the bill as a way to “support and defend our Constitution.”

“We do not take this action lightly, but simply there is no alternative,” Boehner said. “This is not a dispute between the parties, or even between the branches of our government. This executive overreach is an affront to the rule of law and to the Constitution itself.”

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) echoed Boehner’s message. He explained that the overreach by Obama is what led House Republicans to push for the immigration amendments to the DHS funding bill.

“This is not a fight between Republicans and Democrats,” Gowdy said. “It’s not even a fight over immigration reform. This is a fight over whether this branch of government will ever find the courage to stand up for itself.”

However, Democrats didn’t buy that argument. They condemned Republicans for using the DHS funding bill as a way to undermine Obama’s executive actions on immigration and risk shutting down the agency responsible for national security.

“We all support compromise,” Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) said on the House floor. “But Homeland Security is the last thing in this body that should be subject to a political compromise.”

SEE ALSO: Marco Rubio returns to immigration debate in book

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