Rep. Martha McSally, an Arizona Republican whose district is near the border, is taking the lead crafting the Problem Solvers’ border-security piece of the equation. Their bill, said caucus member Curbelo, will likely include a pathway to citizenship and not conservative demands for E-Verify or an enforcement crackdown.
Asked if he really thought House Republicans could back a bipartisan solution, Curbelo said yes.
But perhaps not without some posturing first. “I think people on both sides are going to try to get as much as they can,” Curbelo said.
"If [Illinois Democrat] Mr. Luis Gutiérrez, my friend I’ve been coordinating with, had his way, he’d have the Hope Act and have millions of people legalized tomorrow,” he said. “I told him I’m for that, too, but that’s probably not realistic — just like Republicans who want to fund the entire wall project or demand aggressive interior enforcement.”
Those demands, Curbelo continued, could tank the entire thing: “That’s why I tell people: ‘Let’s not get too ambitious. Let’s take care of these young people who are at risk now.’”
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