Lawmakers return to Capitol Hill this week to face an immigration debate that seems set to be as unpredictable as it was unplanned. Democrats and Republicans believe the debate could have a huge impact on the November midterm elections that will determine which of the two major political parties control Congress.
On Thursday, a divided House Republican Conference will hold a closed-door session to try to create a strategy around the immigration legislation that is set to be heard on the floor in the third week of this month, a deal that reluctant party leaders promised to rank and file members before the Memorial Day holiday. Last week, at a campaign rally in Nashville, Tennessee, President Donald Trump said that immigration was the issue that would ensure the Republican Party’s majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives in the midterms.
Trump said he hoped the Democrats played up immigration in their campaign, because their policies are ‘lousy’ and that the hardline position on immigration policies pursued by his administration and the crackdown on undocumented immigrants attempting to come into the US via the border with Mexico is an issue that is good for the Republicans and bad for their opposition.
Capitol Hill conservatives agree with the President and are at best skeptical of creating new legislation that would create new pathways for US citizenship and draw significant support from Democrats. But, the more moderate wing of the party, including many lawmakers trying to gain re-election in competitive Congressional districts, believe otherwise.