Heritage to key vote Homeland Security bill

Conservative group Heritage Action for America is urging lawmakers to vote yes on legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security and amendments that aim to roll back President Obama’s immigration policies. 

“If the bill is amended to stop President Obama’s dangerous and unlawful amnesty as expected, Heritage Action will support H.R. 240 and will include it as a key vote on our legislative scorecard,” Heritage Action said Monday.

{mosads}The House will likely vote on the amendments and bill on Wednesday. The Rules Committee is slated to meet Monday evening to consider the legislation.

The GOP-led Appropriations Committee on Friday unveiled a nearly $40 billion bill that would fund the DHS through September.

Congress must pass a new spending bill for the DHS by the end of February, or the department will shut down.

Coupled with the bill, the GOP has filed five separate amendments that would defund Obama’s executive orders on immigration from November, the Morton Memos of 2011 and 2012 that relaxed some immigration laws and the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that defers deportations of children who came to the United States illegally.

Other amendments focus on immigration enforcement for sex offenders and prioritizing people who came to the U.S. legally ahead of those who arrived illegally.

After a special GOP conference meeting Friday morning, most Republicans appeared united behind the proposal, while Democrats immediately slammed it.

With the amendments attached, the measure is unlikely to make it through the upper chamber. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said last week that the upper chamber would consider the DHS funding in February.