A bill by GOP Rep. Robert Aderholt of Alabama, now in the final drafting stages, would reverse President Barack Obama's unilateral immigration overhaul,
Politico reported.
The president had ordered that deportations be deferred for illegal immigrants who are the parents of United States citizens. This would give up to 5 million people legal status to work in the country and receive Social Security cards,
The New York Times reported.
Aderholt's bill would block the Department of Homeland Security from deferring the deportations.
It would, moreover, reinstate the Secure Communities program that prioritizes the removal of criminal aliens from the country. Secure Communities helped local law enforcement identify illegal immigrants arrested even for minor offenses, so that they could be turned over to immigration authorities.
The president ended the program under pressure from pro-immigrant groups and some local governments.
Under Aderholt's bill, local law enforcement agencies would need to hold an illegal immigrant in custody at the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or face losing some of their federal funding, Politico reported.
There is also language in the draft that would address the impact of last summer's deluge of illegal minors who crossed into the U.S. from Mexico.
Conservative opponents of the administration's policies want to see a bill like Aderholt's attached to legislation that would fund the Department of Homeland Security beyond Feb. 27, when much of the agency's budget runs dry.
Republican leaders have talked about
using the budget process to bring leverage to bear against some of the administration's more controversial policies, including immigration.
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