The House GOP is teeing up a vote on H.R. 2, a hate group-backed bill filled to the brim with anti-asylum and anti-immigrant proposals — and California Republican David Valadao stands to be a deciding vote in whether or not this odious and unworkable legislation advances.
Rep. Valadao has pitched himself as a pro-immigrant voice, touting in campaign ads that he “stood up to his own party to reform immigration and protect Dreamers,” America’s Voice Political Director Zachary Mueller noted in 2021. If there was ever a time to stand up to his own party and defend immigrants, this is it.
H.R. 2 is a nativist wish-list that offers no solutions to our nation’s broken immigration system, and instead proposes a slew of Trump-era proposals, including stripping unaccompanied minor children of critical protections. It’s unclear whether GOP leadership actually has the votes to pass this cruel agenda, but as part of their political theater, they’re staging a vote on May 11, the date that the Biden administration is scheduled to end Title 42.
This means all eyes are now on Valadao, who’s also among the Republicans that represent districts won by President Biden in the 2020 presidential election. If he’s truly solutions-focused, this bill isn’t it. Will he stand up to his party’s unworkable proposal – or continue to empower the rhetoric and legislation pushed by the most extreme members of his caucus?
