The vote to nix the Dreamer provision was 221-202, with all “Yes” votes coming from the Republican side. Twenty Republicans did defect to join with Democrats.
House Republicans voted Thursday to strike language that would have pushed the administration to allow illegal immigrant Dreamers to sign up for the military, in a move whose symbolism far outstripped its effect.
GOP lawmakers said if they hadn’t removed the language from the annual defense policy bill, it could have been seen as a congressional endorsement of President Obama’s 2012 deportation amnesty, which granted Dreamers tentative legal status and work permits.
Democrats were enraged at the move, saying it insulted those willing to sign up and put their lives on the line to defend their adopted country.
“This is yet another example of an anti-immigrant attitude on the part of House Republicans,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
And Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton weighed in with a statement from her campaign accusing Republicans of discrimination against illegal immigrants.
“If these courageous young men and women want to serve, they should be honored and celebrated, not discriminated against,” said Mrs. Clinton’s political director, Amanda Renteria.
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