The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted Wednesday to kill President Barack Obama's executive actions sparing up to 5 million unauthorized immigrants from deportation.
In a mostly party-line vote of 236 to 191, the chamber approved a bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security through the end of the fiscal year; the legislation also seeks to undo the president's bid to offer deportation reprieves and rolls back the administration's plan to spare those who aren't criminals or repeat immigration violators from deportation.
The legislation passed today also contains an amendment sponsored by Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee ending the administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, under which those illegally brought to the U.S. as minors can apply for legal status. Although 26 House Republicans -- concerned about the amendment's consequences for the party's already-poor standing among Latino voters -- voted against the amendment, their rebellion failed to prevent its passage. Only 10 Republicans voted against the bill itself today, while two Democrats voted in favor.
The House-passed bill faces an uncertain future in the newly Republican Senate; many GOP senators facing potentially difficult re-election campaigns next year have voiced concerns about the legislation.
Today's vote sets the stage for a showdown between the GOP Congress and the Obama administration -- a faceoff that could end in a partial government shutdown next month, when DHS funding expires.
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