Friday, December 13, 2024

Speaker Paul Ryan says people should not doubt his commitment to DACA

 

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday had a message for his critics who don’t think he’s serious about protecting hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants: Don’t doubt me.

“I know that there is a real commitment to solving the DACA challenge in both political parties. That’s a commitment that I share. To anyone who doubts my intention to solve this problem and bring up a DACA and immigration reform bill, do not,” Ryan told reporters at his weekly news conference in the Capitol.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democrats are pressuring Ryan to bring legislation to the floor to shield DREAMers from deportation. On Wednesday night, Pelosi delivered and eight-hour speech on the House floor, where she vowed to oppose a bipartisan deal to boost spending and avert a government shutdown today because the agreement excluded an immigration solution.

The Speaker, however, argued that passing the massive budget caps deal yesterday would allow Congress to focus its efforts on the immigration issue. Next month, protections will end for about 800,000 recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Another point of conflict between Ryan and Pelosi is how exactly an immigration bill will come to the floor. Pelosi has asked Ryan for a more free-wheeling amendment process, where competing proposals come to the floor and the most popular bill advances, but Ryan has rejected that approach, saying he’ll only bring an immigration bill to the floor that he’s sure Trump will sign.

“I want to make sure we get it done right the first time. I don’t want to just risk a veto. I want to get it right the first time, and I think we can get there,” Ryan said. “I’m confident we can bring a bipartisan solution to the floor that can get signed into law and solve this problem.”

THE HILL