President Donald Trump traveled to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to discuss immigration reform and other issues with House Republicans, saying he had a “great meeting.”
But he did not demand members vote for Speaker Paul Ryan’s more moderate immigration bill over a more conservative bill offered by Rep. Bob Goodlatte.
“In his remarks, he endorsed both House immigration bills,” Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said in a statement sent to Breitbart News. “He told the members, ‘I’m with you 100%.’”
Shah claimed that both bills would fund the wall, close legal loopholes, cancel the visa lottery, curb chain migration and solve both the border crisis and family separation.
Some supporters of the Ryan bill had hoped that Trump would fully endorse their bill and urge conservatives to support it, as the measure has a greater chance of passing with the support of moderate Republicans.
But Trump did not signal a preferred bill, allowing every Republican to vote as they pleased.
Some immigration hardliners are supporting the Goodlatte bill, which gives amnesty for tough immigration enforcement measures, $25 billion in funding to build the wall, ending chain migration and the visa lottery system. Others may refuse to vote for either measure giving amnesty to 1.8 million immigrants.
The president met with House Republicans for about an hour before leaving Capitol Hill for an event at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.
House leadership now faces a tough whipping process to get Republicans to the needed 218 votes to get the Ryan measure to pass. The vote is scheduled for Thursday.
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