Amnesty will cost Americans $6.3 trillion.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) told Roll Call that Congress must act on immigration reform before August or it doesn’t happen this year.
Roll Call reported:
The deadline to pass immigration overhaul legislation is this August, said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., who is part of the effort to develop an immigration bill that could pass the House.
“The legislative process in essence, frankly, has to work on deadlines. There’s a deadline. And the deadline is that if we don’t get it done by August it doesn’t happen,” Diaz-Balart told CQ Roll Call at the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute’s awards gala Thursday.
“If Congress doesn’t act by the August break, the president is going to do something. And once that happens, two things happen,” said Diaz-Balart. “No. 1 is that the possibility of any further negotiations — of any — disintegrate.”
The Florida Republican added that if there is executive action on immigration, the president “will also then create a narrative of his choosing and again creating a situation where no further negotiations are possible.”
Diaz-Balart told CQ Roll Call in April that lawmakers had developed a policy that would adequately address concerns about border security and the 11 million undocumented immigrants.
“So I feel optimistic that we’re going get it done because I think most people in the House understand that what we have is unacceptable,” said Diaz-Balart, once again adding, “And if we don’t get it done by this August, it just doesn’t get done.”
