Cantor Doesn't Deny House GOP Leadership Will Support 'Overall Path to Legalization'

On Fox News Sunday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) did not deny the House Republican leadership will support an “overall path to legalization” for all of the country’s illegal immigrants. Though not offering specifics, Cantor told host Chris Wallace that the House would be addressing the immigration issue and “would take a position” on the question after the August recess.

When repeatedly asked whether the House will vote on a bill to put at least 11 million illegal immigrants on a “path to legalization,” Cantor said the House Republican leadership has not made “any announcements about the schedule” and emphasized the House was “not going to be bringing the Senate bill up.” He also said the House Republican leadership was “going to take a position” “because we know the system is broken” and “we want to fix it.” 

Cantor acknowledged that Committees in the House have already passed piecemeal immigration bills that deal with things like border security and guest workers and said, “we will have a vote on a series of bills at some point, and it will deal with a variety of issues.”

“I have said we will be addressing the issue of immigration in the House, according to our terms,” Cantor said, acknowledging that the “scramble” in the Senate to get votes allowed a bill to pass with many not knowing what was even in the final bill.  

Cantor also expressed support for the House’s version of the DREAM Act, which he said he was “calling a kids bill.” As he has repeatedly said, Cantor said he believed children should not be held “liable for illegal acts of their parents.” 

As Breitbart News has reported, conservatives are concerned that the House will use a series of piecemeal bills on immigration as way to ultimately go to conference with the Senate, where provisions of the Senate bill Cantor acknowledged Americans did not like would then merge with parts of the House’s bills to become law. The House Republican leadership reportedly did not bring any immigration bills to the floor before the August recess in an attempt to minimize the anticipated backlash.