Democrats in the House of Representatives are hoping for the U.S. Senate's help to deny the GOP's recent efforts to defund President Barack Obama's immigration executive actions.

On Wednesday morning, the House of Representatives voted to approve an amendment by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., to freeze funds for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which deferred deportation for eligible undocumented immigrant youths. The House vote was 218 in favor of defunding DACA and 209 votes in opposition. The opposition votes included 26 Republicans.

Blackburn's amendment was included in the $40 billion funding bill for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) H.R. 240, which includes the major immigration-related agencies such as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency that manages DACA.

Blackburn's amendment would prohibit new funds for the program, which Obama created in 2012 and recently expanded on Nov. 20, 2014, allowing temporary protections for eligible undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S.

In a statement Wednesday, Blackburn explained her actions, criticizing Obama's executive actions on immigration as "lawless," while stating that the DACA program was a "magnet" attracting unauthorized Central American children across the U.S. border. 

"President Obama is turning every state into a border state and every town into a border town, said Blackburn. "Unfortunately, his lawless amnesty has taken Democrats from the party of 'Yes We Can' to the party of 'Because We Can.'"

However, House Democrats and immigrant rights advocates disagree, many of them saying the GOP's Wednesday vote was a vote against millions of immigrants around the nation.

"This is a vote to deport Dreamers," said Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich. "The amendment is one more of the same anti-immigrant type of rhetoric that has dominated conservatives and is further evidence that the majority is not interested in fixing our broken immigration system."

The House also approved an amendment to defund delay deportations instructed by Obama's immigration executive actions in a 237-190 vote.

While the Senate will need to vote on the bill, the White House already said Obama will be advised to veto the DHS funding package if it includes "objectionable restrictions" on the president's executive actions.

"The President looks forward to working with the Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform and an appropriations bill funding the Department of Homeland Security that is free from ideological provisions," noted a statement from the executive office of the president.

The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), a national organization for Latino workers and their families, said they are "extremely disappointed and concerned" with the House's passage of the amendments.

"President Obama's executive actions, taken in the absence of legislation from Congress to reform our broken immigrations laws, will enable millions of Latino families to stay united and fully contribute to our economy. While we support President Obama's new immigration programs, we ultimately support Congressional action over Presidential action," said LCLAA. "Rather than trying to fix our broken immigration system through comprehensive legislation, these anti-immigrant amendments do nothing to advance meaningful solutions.

"We urge the House to pass a clean Homeland Security bill and encourage Congress to work with President Obama to enact permanent bipartisan immigration reforms."

Janet Murguía, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, blasted Republicans for their decision, saying their actions in targeting DACA for defunding was a vote "against the millions of American families whose loved ones are working very hard to get right with the law."

"I cannot think of a more substantively offensive and politically disastrous step for Republicans to take at this moment in time," said Murguía in a statement. "It is no secret that the GOP is in a severe deficit when it comes to the Latino community and the Hispanic vote; it is a well-known fact among the many Republicans who support a sensible and effective immigration solution, and polling confirms it. Our community will not forget that the first order of business for House Republican leadership in the 114th Congress was a political stunt to crush the hope given to all these families without offering a single plausible alternative in return." 

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