Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
In this Feb. 24, 2015, file photo, the Homeland Security Department headquarters is seen in northwest Washington.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015 | 1:55 p.m.
Congress voted today to fund the U.S. Department of Homeland Security without restricting President Barack Obama’s contentious deferral deportation programs, ending a months-long immigration standoff between the president and House Republicans.
The House voted 257-167 to fund DHS, dealing a victory to Obama’s executive actions granting deportation relief to 5 million undocumented immigrants. The legislation, which passed with mostly Democratic votes, is now heading to Obama’s desk.
Nevada’s House Republicans have walked a fine line on the DHS spending saga.
In January, all three bucked their party and voted to keep in place Obama’s 2012 deportation relief program, saying they didn’t feel comfortable taking away protections already afforded Nevadan immigrants.
They supported defunding Obama’s most recent expansion of the program.
On Tuesday, Rep. Joe Heck, who represents Summerlin and Henderson, and freshman Rep. Cresent Hardy, who represents North Las Vegas and central Nevada, joined 182 Democrats and 73 other Republicans in passing the spending bill without immigration holdups.
“There is no issue I take more seriously than protecting and defending the people of the United States of America,” Heck said in a statement explaining his vote, while noting he still believes Obama’s executive actions are illegal.
Rep. Mark Amodei, who represents Northern Nevada, voted against the DHS spending bill.
He said he wanted to uphold a campaign promise to address what he called Obama’s overreach on immigration — even though he strongly disagreed with the ultimately failed tactic employed by Republicans.
“Saying, I’m going to hold funding for an agency hostage is a tried, unproven failure of a strategy,” Amodei said.
U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat representing Las Vegas, has been a staunch advocate for the president’s immigration deal and voted in favor of the bill.
“I’m pleased that House Republican leadership, after taking us to the brink of a DHS shutdown last week, has finally put aside their reckless political games to allow a vote on a clean, long-term funding bill,” Titus said.
Obama’s immigration deal isn’t just facing legislative challenges.
The executive actions were dealt a significant blow last month when a federal judge in Texas temporarily halted the deferral programs just two days before immigrants could begin applying for relief. The move left millions of potential beneficiaries in limbo and largely disillusioned the immigrant community.
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