House Republicans reject bipartisan Senate immigration plan, push for tougher border measures

The Republican Study Committee on Tuesday called for a vote on a conservative border security bill, and warned it would reject a more moderate measure some Senate lawmakers are trying to advance.

The RSC is the largest group of House Republicans, and is made up of more than half of the GOP conference and includes mostly conservative lawmakers.

The bill endorsed by the group was introduced this month by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and others. It would protect so-called Dreamers from deportation but would also implement significant border security and immigration reforms including an end to chain migration and new funding for a southern border wall.

The RSC statement comes a day after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., promised to bring up an immigration reform bill in the Senate by Feb. 8 if a deal on the issue is not reached by a bipartisan group of lawmakers and the Trump administration.

Among the Senate bills waiting in the wings is a measure authored by Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., which includes far more 'moderate' border security provisions than the Goodlatte measure.

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