An immigration bill that sought to bridge the divide separating Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives failed by a wide margin Wednesday.

The compromise measure that President Donald Trump urged the House to pass secured the support of only half of GOP lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a two-term incumbent from Maine’s 2nd District.

Poliquin said last week “no immigration legislation is going to be perfect,” but wanted to press ahead with a bill to help reunify families separated at the U.S. border in recent weeks.

The collapse of the compromise is merely the latest indication that Republicans are sharply divided on how to approach the immigration issue. While 121 GOP members voted for it, 112 opposed it, along with every Democrat.

The bill sought to address a number of immigration-related issues, including construction of a wall along the Mexican border, a reduction in legal immigration and the creation of a pathway to citizenship for people brought to the United States as children, the so-called “Dreamers.”

Poliquin said he voted for the measure because “meaningful immigration reform is decades overdue and has been neglected by Congresses and White Houses under the control of Democrats and Republicans over the last 30 years, resulting in inadequate border security, outdated immigration policies and an influx of deadly drugs through our southern border.”

“We cannot just keep doing nothing,” he said. “We must try to fix these problems.”

Poliquin, who voted for a more conservative immigration measure last week that also failed, said Mainers “are owed meaningful immigration reform and border security, and it’s critical Congress delivers.”

Jared Golden, a Lewiston Democrat who is challenging Poliquin’s re-election, said his opponent “is hiding his real agenda when it comes to immigration.”

He said Poliquin voted for an immigration bill last week that “did nothing” for children separated from parents at the border and then voted this week for another that would encourage more illegal entry into the United States by reducing legal options.

“These bills actually create a whole new category of foreign worker visas that will bring in a half million new foreign workers in the agriculture and forestry industries, including logging, which will depress wages for American workers and take job opportunities away from others,” Golden said.

“When it comes to immigration laws, Poliquin likes the ones that create cheap labor for corporations at the expense of American workers. Instead of flushing our jobs market with cheap labor, I believe that our immigration policies should help people that want to live in America, work in America, raise a family in America and be a part of the American Dream.”

Poliquin said he stands ready to work with everybody in the U.S. House and Senate “to deliver to Mainers and Americans long-overdue immigration reform that secures our borders, cracks down on the flow of illegal drugs to our country, prevents the separation of families at the border and puts in place sensible policies to better manage our immigration.”

The possibility of amnesty for some undocumented immigrants spurred opposition among hardliners in the House.

It did not help that Trump has been wildly inconsistent in his stance on the measure.

Two weeks ago, during a television interview, Trump said he would not sign it if it passed. Then, he vowed he would strongly back legislators who approve it. Then, last Friday he published a statement on Twitter telling Republicans they were wasting their time on the bill and should focus on winning more seats in the Nov. 6 general election.

Finally, on Wednesday morning, the president tweeted, in all caps: “HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS THE STRONG BUT FAIR IMMIGRATION BILL, KNOWN AS GOODLATTE II, IN THEIR AFTERNOON VOTE TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THE DEMS WON’T LET IT PASS IN THE SENATE. PASSAGE WILL SHOW THAT WE WANT STRONG BORDERS & SECURITY WHILE THE DEMS WANT OPEN BORDERS = CRIME. WIN!”

The bill shot down by the House was introduced by U.S. Rep. Robert Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican who is retiring this year. He is the only Bates College graduate now serving in Congress.

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a 1st District Democrat from Maine, voted against the bill.

“To be clear, the mean-spirited bill we voted on today is by no means moderate,” Pingree said in a prepared statement. “It was a compromise between the House anti-immigrant faction and the super anti-immigration faction.

“This legislation cut off paths for legal immigration, held Dreamers hostage to funding for President Trump’s wasteful $25 billion border wall and authorized the government to jail immigrant families indefinitely at the border.”

Pingree added: “After touring detention centers in Texas last weekend, I can attest to what a cruel and unacceptable alternative this is to family separation. What’s sad about this bill and its partisanship is that there are many areas on immigration where Republicans and Democrats can find agreement — namely, giving young Dreamers a clear path to citizenship in the only country they’ve ever called home.

“We have the votes to pass such a bill if Republican leadership would only bring it to the floor instead of catering to its extreme fringes.”

Tiffany Bond, an independent who hopes to unseat Poliquin in the Nov. 6 general election, said she is “disappointed that the Republican solution to an urgent need is to attempt to pass a nearly 300 page long comprehensive bill that will undoubtedly require weeks if not months of negotiations.”

“A more prudent path would be to first pass a short bill addressing the urgent situation of reunifying families and preventing further separations,” Bond said. “Priorities say a lot about who you are.”

scollins@sunjournal.com

U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine (AP file photo)