House Republicans leaders warned Wednesday about enacting an "Obamacare-like" immigration bill.
In a statement after a closed-door meeting of GOP rank and file, the leaders soundly rejected the bipartisan Senate bill that includes a path to citizenship and increased border security. They called that legislation flawed.
Speaker John Boehner and other leaders said the House would take a step-by-step approach to rewriting the nation's immigration laws.
They said President Barack Obama's recent decision to delay an employer requirement in the health care bill raised concerns among the American people that the administration cannot be trusted to secure the border and enforce the law.
The White House said Obama will meet Thursday with two senators playing a major role in the immigration overhaul.
Obama will meet in the with Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Republican, and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat. McCain and Schumer were part of a bipartisan Senate group that drafted a comprehensive bill that would create a path to citizenship for 11 million people in the U.S. illegally.
The Senate passed that bill last month, and attention has turned to the Republican-controlled House.
GOP leaders said they won't take up the Senate bill. Instead, they said they will pursue their own approach, and it was unclear whether that will include a path to citizenship. Many House Republicans oppose that provision.
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