GOP Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama sponsored the amendment to block Dreamers from military service.
The House voted Thursday to strip language from the Defense funding bill that would have directed the Pentagon to consider making Dreamers who qualified for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program eligible for military service.
The amendment to remove the language, offered by Republican Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, was adopted 221-202 without a single Democratic vote. The original language of the National Defense Authorization Act, which included the Dreamer provision for military service, had been approved by the GOP-controlled House Armed Services Committee 33-30 with the help of six Republicans.
The Dreamer provision drew heated debate on the House floor. Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois went on a tear, noting that the approximately 700,000 eligible Dreamers had passed criminal background checks and Republicans were "taking one more dive down the anti-immigrant rabbit hole."
If the majority party is unable to allow a nonbinding study approved by the committee of jurisdiction, where they are the majority, because it includes the word immigrant, without slapping the word amnesty on it—how on earth are you able to fix our broken immigration system or win over the fastest-growing group of voters in this country. It's clear to me that the candidate who is ready to embrace immigrants and protect Dreamers and their families, may as well start measuring the drapes at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. And I think I know what her name is.
Rep. Steve "
cantaloupe" King, speaking from his parallel universe, claimed once again that no one can "quote any anti-immigrant statements from anyone over on this side."
The Clinton campaign weighed in on the debate with a statement saying, "If these courageous young men and women want to serve, they should be honored and celebrated, not discriminated against."