California Republicans vow to keep up pressure on immigration reform

Two California Republicans vow they’ll push the House to consider immigration reform legislation despite new Speaker Paul Ryan’s pledge not to take up the issue.

Reps. Jeff Denham and David Valadeo both tell The Los Angeles Times that they think there’s a path forward for immigration legislation.

{mosads}Denham predicts there a majority of House Republicans would back his bill allow people legal residence who serve a term in the military, and who were brought to the United States illegally as children before 2011.

“I am confident that we have a majority of the majority on the ENLIST Act, and I’m going to push forward,” Denham tells the Times.

Valadeo says he does not expect comprehensive immigration reform to move forward because of mistrust between House Republicans and President Obama. But he said he will push for “common sense stuff” to get done.

Ryan (R-Wis.) was loosely involved with talks about immigration reform in the House in 2013. At the time, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers was working to put together a comprehensive immigration overhaul. Ryan wasn’t part of the core group, but did have conversations with its members.

Before taking the Speakership, however, Ryan pledged he would not move an immigration reform overhaul to the floor unless it was backed by a majority of House Republicans. He has also said he would not do so while Obama was president given distrust with the White House from his conference.

The pledges were key to Ryan winning backing from members of the House Freedom Caucus for his Speakership bid.

Denham and Valadeo both represent competitive House districts in California that have large Hispanic populations. Both are listed as leaning Republican in the latest report by congressional election forecaster Charlie Cook.