House rejects effort to condemn lawmaker for demanding ‘Dreamer’ arrests

The House on Tuesday rejected an effort by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to condemn Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) for asking the Capitol Police to arrest immigrants without legal status who were guests of lawmakers at President Trump’s State of the Union address last week.

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), chairwoman of the Hispanic Caucus, offered a resolution to condemn Gosar for “inappropriate actions that intimidated State of the Union guests and discredited the U.S. House of Representatives.”

House Republicans moved to table Lujan Grisham’s resolution in a party-line, 231-187 vote.

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Dozens of Democrats had invited young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, often referred to as “Dreamers,” as their guests to the State of the Union.

Some of the young immigrants in attendance were recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Individuals with valid documentation through DACA are in the country legally and would not have been at risk of arrest.

Gosar urged the Capitol Police to check the identification of people attending the speech.

“Of all the places where the Rule of Law needs to be enforced, it should be in the hallowed halls of Congress. Any illegal aliens attempting to go through security, under any pretext of invitation or otherwise, should be arrested and deported,” Gosar wrote in a series of tweets.

The resolution offered by Lujan Grisham states that Gosar “abused his power in an attempt to interfere with and politicize the U.S. Capitol Police’s efforts to provide for a safe, secure, and open environment during the State of the Union” and violated rules requiring all members to behave in a manner reflecting “creditably” on the House.

Gosar slammed the resolution and criticized Lujan Grisham, saying he “will not be intimidated by her left-wing nonsense and efforts to silence my speech.”

“I have a First Amendment right to speak out against their advocacy for criminals, gang members, drug dealers, human traffickers and simple run-of-the-mill law breakers who have violated our immigration laws,” Gosar said. 

“I will continue to speak out on behalf of Americans, real Americans of all ethnicities, who play by the rules and do not violate our laws.”

Lujan Grisham forced a vote on her resolution to condemn Gosar using a process that allows any member to bring up a “privileged” measure raising questions about the dignity and integrity of the House.

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) forced a vote on a similar resolution in 2014 to condemn then-House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) for cutting off the microphone of the panel’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), at a hearing.

Fudge was serving as chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus at the time, of which Cummings is also a member. House Republicans similarly tabled Fudge’s resolution to condemn Issa as they did on Tuesday for Lujan Grisham’s effort against Gosar.

Lawmakers are trying to negotiate a deal that would allow such immigrants to stay in the U.S. in exchange for border security measures. The Trump administration is phasing out the DACA program, which means current recipients could face deportation if their current legal status expires.

Democrats widely blasted Gosar for demanding arrests of undocumented immigrants last week, while some Republicans also joined in the pushback.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), the co-author of a bill to give Dreamers a path to citizenship, tweeted last week: “Oh my goodness, RepGosar. Dreamers don’t pose a threat to us. This is so drastic and cruel. Dios mío.”

A spokeswoman for Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said that “the Speaker clearly does not agree.”

Still, no Republican supported the effort to condemn Gosar on Tuesday. 

Updated at 11:55 a.m.