House votes down immigration bill

As expected, the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted down a Republican leadership–backed immigration measure that would have given some immigrants brought to the United States as children a path to citizenship. The 301-121 vote to kill the bill came despite President Donald Trump tweeting his support earlier in the day, a turnaround from late last week when the president said lawmakers should abandon the measure as a waste of time. The bill, which would have financed Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico, limited legal immigration, and curbed the separation of migrant families, was expected to die because of Republican divisions and solid Democratic opposition. After the vote, the president told reporters he hadn’t gotten “overly excited” about the bill because it wouldn’t have passed the Senate. GOP leaders have said they hope to vote on a narrower measure by Friday to curb the separation of families at the border, but it is unclear if that will happen before Congress breaks for the Fourth of July holiday.