Republicans in the House of Representatives will attend a two-hour meeting about immigration next month as party leaders face the prospect of a rebellion from within their own caucus on the best way to deal with the undocumented immigrants who came to the US as minors, known as Dreamers.
The conference is set to take place on 7 June, according to a spokeswoman. The discussions on the contentious policy, which are likely to be divisive, will take place as Republican primary elections occur across the US and a few months before the crucial midterm elections in November. House Republicans whose political stance is more to the center are annoyed at the inaction over ensuring that Dreamers will not face deportation and are trying to force the House to vote on a new immigration policy against the wishes of party leaders.
As this gains momentum, the right flank of the party is attempting to do much the same for a more conservative immigration bill, with a farm bill championed by Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House, last week sank by the House Freedom Caucus because of a lack of assurances about voting on immigration policy.
The dispute risks pitting two sides of the Republican Party against each other as they attempt to ensure they maintain their majority in the House and has the potential to force Ryan to leave his post as Speaker.