Nevada Republicans straddle the line on Obama’s immigration action

By Amber Phillips

Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015 | 1:28 p.m.

Nevada’s three House Republicans bucked most of their party today and voted to keep the president’s 2012 immigration action in place, then voted to stop Obama from expanding it.

Rep. Mark Amodei, Rep. Cresent Hardy and Rep. Joe Heck all said they couldn’t support a bid by conservative Republicans to defund the president’s 2012 program that lets some young immigrants in the country illegally go to school, get a job and avoid deportation.

“That’s un-American,” said Heck, who just won his third term in a moderate district representing Henderson and Boulder City. “Real lives will be impacted for those folks who have come out of the shadows, who are now going to school, got a job.”

Nevada’s lawmakers had to walk a fine line on the complicated vote. Amodei and Heck had to do a similar balancing act last year.

All three lawmakers said they didn’t agree with the president going around Congress to change immigration policy, but they didn’t feel comfortable taking away deferred status for immigrants, known as Dreamers, already in Obama’s program.

So the lawmakers voted to keep what’s in place but stop Obama’s plan to expand it to 5 million more immigrants.

The controversial vote was part of a larger package the House approved today to overturn President Barack Obama’s immigration action — from his 2012 program to his announcement in November to expand it.

The president touted his new actions on a November trip to Las Vegas.

It was all wrapped into a broader, $40 billion spending bill for the agency that executes Obama’s immigration programs, the Department of Homeland Security.

Nevada’s House Republicans were just three of 26 in the party to vote against the effort to defund the 2012 program. They joined GOP colleagues from swing states with higher Hispanic populations, such as Colorado and Florida, in voting no.

The measure passed the House 218-209.

“We have now turned a half a million people into this no-man’s land,” said Amodei, who represents a more conservative Northern Nevada district.

“We need to carefully approach immigration in a way that attacks the problem, not people,” said Hardy, who was elected in November to represent a diverse district that includes North Las Vegas and central Nevada.

The package’s chances in the Senate are uncertain. A handful of more moderate senators, including Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller, have also expressed reservations about retracting Obama’s 2012 Dreamer program.

Nevada’s lone Democrat in the House, Rep. Dina Titus, said her Republican colleagues were trying to have their cake and eat it too.

“I know sometimes they want to have it both ways and say they want to support immigration, then vote against immigration reform and blame it on the ‘process,’” said the Las Vegas Democrat, using air quotes to add emphasis.

Despite the drama on the vote, Nevada Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill are starting to sound a similar refrain on calling for immigration reform.

Hardy said he’s pushing House leaders to come up with a proposal.

Amodei said there are enough Republicans to pass a bill, but the challenge is convincing House leadership to bring it to a vote. It’s a line House Democrats such as Titus have used in the past.

Amodei said all this drama without solutions is hurting the Republican party as it spends the next two years controlling both chambers of Congress.

“I am tired of getting played on immigration,” Amodei said. “I’m defending nothing here.”