Labrador says 'it would be crazy' for the GOP to engage with the president on immigration. Labrador: Budget battle hurts immigration push

Rep. Raul Labrador, a key Republican supporter of immigration reform, said he doesn’t expect the House will try to find common ground with the Senate on a comprehensive overhaul after feeling burned by the budget battle.

“Absolutely not,” Labrador (R-Idaho) said at a conservative panel on Wednesday. “If the president is going to show the same kind of good faith effort that he’s shown in the last couple of weeks, I think it would be crazy for the House Republican leadership to enter into negotiations with him on immigration.”


Labrador, who was at one time part of a bipartisan group in the House trying to strike a deal on immigration, said the way the continuing resolution and debt ceiling fights have shaken out prove Republicans shouldn’t take up the issue.

“I think what [President Barack Obama] has done over the last two and half weeks, he’s trying to destroy the Republican Party and I think that anything we negotiate right now with the president on immigration will be with that same goal in mind, which is to destroy the Republican Party and not to get good policies.”

The consensus at the monthly Conversations with Conservatives panel was that any immigration reform will move in small pieces and will avoid a conference with the Senate on a more comprehensive effort.

“We agree on things on tax reform, we agree on things on entitlement reform, there are things we’re on the same page about, and he is unwilling to negotiate on those things,” Labrador said. “I don’t see how he would in good faith negotiate with us on immigration.”