Virginia Republican Bob Goodlatte represents the western part of the state, and he's come under recent fire for his involvement in President Trump's controversial travel ban. Goodlatte had his staff help President Trump craft the executive order.
Matt Laslo reports from Washington on Goodlatte's role in immigration reform going forward.
Federal courts, including one in Virginia, have halted Trump's travel ban, and the president is promising to unveil a new one soon. It's unclear who will write it, but Virginia Republican Bob Goodlatte's staff wrote parts of the first one, which he defends.
“It’s commonplace for Republican and Democratic staff to lend their expertise to presidential transition teams,” says Goodlatte.
Democrats, though, bristled that Goodlatte's staff on the House Judiciary Committee worked with the White House on the ban. Prominent immigration advocate and Illinois Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez says reports that his staff signed non disclosure agreements are troubling.
“I guess the question is ‘Why would you work in secret if you’re a publicly paid for official?’" Gutierrez asks, "And where does it cross the line: the legislative branch of government and the executive branch of government. I thought we were eco-equal partners and now we’re already in cahoots with each other?”
Many Republicans, like Virginia Congressman Morgan Griffith, are defending their colleague -- adding, though, that they would like to keep more separation between the White House and Congress in the future.
“I’m sure it’s been done millions of times before but I wouldn’t want folks doing it on a regular basis,” says Griffith.
But as head of the powerful Judiciary Committee Goodlatte will be one of Trump's main point persons on immigration policy. He's told reporters he's expecting the administration to be aggressive on immigration.
“I expect we’ll see more action on his part," Goodlatte says. "He also has selected as Secretary of Homeland Security and Attorney General of the United States two people who I think are by-the-book, enforce the law type folks.”
Goodlatte has a long laundry list of goals on immigration reform. He wants to enhance employment verification, change the highly skilled green card system, tweak legal immigration, including for agriculture workers. But Goodlatte says, for now, he's waiting on marching orders from the White House.
“I think the first step is to see what this new president does – he’s said a lot about immigration. He’s said a lot," Goodlatte says. "But exactly what he does will set tone for what we can do in Congress to address all these areas, including the people who are not lawfully here.”
Some Democratic Congressmen would actually like to see their colleagues take the lead on immigration reform, rather than President Trump. Like Northern Virginia Democrat Don Beyer.
“If I’m thinking optimistically, it’s possible an immigration reform proposal might be more moderate than what’s coming from the White House,” says Beyer.
While Democrats have been critical of the Trump administrations latest raids on undocumented workers, the administration has told lawmakers to expect more in the coming year.