Labrador Leaves House Immigration Reform Group as Pelosi Demands Obamacare for Illegals

Labrador Leaves House Immigration Reform Group as Pelosi Demands Obamacare for Illegals

on Thu, 6 Jun 2013

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) has officially left the House version of the “Gang of Eight" after Democrats--led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a House aide familiar with the discussions told Breitbart News--went back on a prior agreement-in-principle during the talks.

Originally, according to Labrador, the House group had agreed hat illegal immigrants would be required to cover their own health care costs and not have access to Obamacare. When the talks moved along, though, the Democrats went back on their promise and began insisting that illegal immigrants get access to government healthcare. 

That prompted Labrador to abandon the group on Wednesday evening, as the left was not negotiating in good faith, he said. A House aide confirmed to Breitbart News that Pelosi--who was not a member of the House immigration group--was the leader of the charge in pushing health care for illegal immigrants, even though the Democrats in the group had originally agreed to the compromise.

“I have tremendous respect for the members of the bipartisan group who have been working with me to fix our broken immigration system,” Labrador said in a statement. “But after today’s meeting, the framework of the bill has changed in a way that I can no longer support. Like most Americans, I believe that health care is first and foremost a personal responsibility. While I will no longer be part of the bipartisan ‘Group of Eight’ House negotiators, I will not abandon my efforts to modernize our broken immigration system by securing our borders and creating a workable guest worker program. I remain hopeful that the House can pass a bill around these principles and I will keep fighting to make it happen.”

Pelosi's office has not returned a request for comment from Breitbart News for this story.

Labrador had been working with Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), John Carter (R-TX), Sam Johnson (R-TX), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and John Yarmuth (D-KY).

Labrador’s move comes on the heels of a report from Breitbart News that a high-ranking Senate aide said Rubio is searching for a way out of the Senate Gang of Eight.

“Rubio and his staff are trying to get out of the Gang of Eight,” the aide said. “They’re looking to use other Republican members as their parachute to get out.”