The House of Representatives passed a mass amnesty bill on Tuesday evening, H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act, that would grant lifetime work permits to approximately 3.5 million illegal aliens who claim that they entered the country under the age of 18 and meet certain other conditions and to approximately 450,000 foreign citizens (mostly illegal aliens) whose countries have been given Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
The bill passed 237-to-187 mostly along party lines with all Democrats in attendance and 7 Republicans voting in favor of passage. There's little chance the Senate will take up the legislation or Pres. Trump would sign the bill should it reach his desk, but it could be attached to Pres. Trump's recently released immigration proposal that would reform the current green card system should it begin to move through Congress.
In addition to the 230 Democrats who voted in favor of the bill, Republicans Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Fred Upton of Michigan, Will Hurd of Texas, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Dan Newhouse of Washington, and Chris Smith of New Jersey also voted in favor of the bill.
None of the five Democrats who failed to vote represent districts won by Pres. Trump in 2016.
Before the final vote, Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) offered a motion to recommit the bill with instructions to amend it with a provision that would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to refer any alien denied the amnesty based on criminal, national security, gang, or public safety grounds be referred for deportation. The vote failed 202-to-221 with 10 House Democrats voting in favor of the motion. Those Democrats were: Josh Harder of California, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Anthony Brindisi of New York, Abby Finkenauer of Iowa, Angie Craig of Minnesota, Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, Jared Golden of Maine, Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey, Joe Cunningham of South Carolina, and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.
Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) was the lone Republican to vote against the motion to recommit.
