Immigration petition hits 215 signatures as two Dem holdouts join
Source: The Hill
BY RAFAEL BERNAL - 06/05/18 11:58 AM EDT
Two Texas Democrats who resisted signing a petition to force a vote on a series of immigration bills will now join most Democrats and two dozen Republicans in supporting the motion, bringing the number of its signatories to 215.
With Reps. Filemon Vela and Vicente Gonzalez's signatures, the petition is just three short of the 218 needed to force votes on legislation that would offer shelter to so-called "Dreamers" that came to the U.S. illegally as children. Vela and Gonzalez withheld their signatures from the measure because of the possibility that it could end in legislation that funds a border wall, which they oppose.
"I don't like doing it, but I was with [Brownsville Bishop Daniel E. Flores] yesterday for like an hour and a half and I had meetings with Dreamers," Vela told The Hill. "That's pretty much it."
"I will vote for a clean Dream Act, but not for any measure that includes border wall funding. Republican moderates claim they have the votes to move their discharge petition forward…Let’s see it,” Vela added in a statement.
Read more: http://thehill.com/latino/390761-immigration-petition-hits-215-signatures-as-two-dem-holdouts-sign-on
