From Breitbart, Matthew Boyle and Jonathan Strong reporting, we learn [cue music]:
House Republicans are quietly working to insert immigration legislation into the text of the Department of Defense authorization bill that would allow so-called DREAMers to obtain permanent legal residency by joining the military, Breitbart News has learned.
You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend…
The language, which if successful would mark the first effort by House Republicans to provide any form of amnesty since the GOP took control of the House in 2010, has set off a panic among top immigration hawks that the effort could open an immigration Pandora’s box, paving the way for broader legislation.
Sophomore Republican Rep. Jeff Denham of California, a close ally of GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy, is leading the push to add the text of his “ENLIST Act” into the National Defense Authorization Act, which could come to the House floor as early as next month.
You got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that’s winning…
The effort, which has not previously been reported, is fairly advanced, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte – who killed the proposal as an amendment to last year’s NDAA in a dramatic floor struggle – is weighing whether to approve the maneuver, which would circumvent his committee on one of its key matters of jurisdiction.
“We’re working on it,” Goodlatte said.
You say you lost your faith
But that’s not where it’s at
You had no faith to lose
And you know it…
Key proponents of a comprehensive immigration bill said they support Denham’s effort but that it’s not part of a broader push for amnesty.
“Remember, to get the big things done, we still have to deal with the 800 lb gorilla, which is border security, and the folks that are here. That fact remains. I think that part that he’s dealing with is a very important part but it’s relatively noncontroversial,” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart told Breitbart News.
Do you take me for such a fool…
Denham, who was the first Republican to co-sponsor a Democratic immigration bill modeled after the Senate Gang-of-Eight legislation that passed last year, is pushing to add the language to the “base” NDAA bill – meaning it would not get its own vote.
A House Armed Services Committee aide said Chairman Buck McKeon hadn’t committed to including the language in the bill, which runs through his committee. McKeon, on his way to the House floor to vote, declined to comment.
But Denham has acquired significant support, including from a number of top conservatives that could help insulate him from the inevitable blow-up when the effort becomes public.
For example, a trio of South Carolina lawmakers, Reps. Jeff Duncan, Mick Mulvaney, and Trey Gowdy – the latter of whom is the chairman of the immigration subcommittee in Goodlatte’s Judiciary panel – have cosponsored the bill, as has McKeon.
Overall, the stand-alone bill has 42 cosponsors, including 24 Republicans. Also on the list: key chairman like Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of House Veterans Affairs Committee and Darrell Issa, chairman of the oversight panel. Two close allies of Speaker John Boehner, Reps. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Steve Stivers (R-OH) are cosponsors, as is McCarthy.
I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is
To see you……
Have you seen the little Quislings
Crawling in the dirt…
