Democrats block GOP rep's bill requiring negative COVID tests for illegal immigrants

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Miller-Meeks: Dems want to violate Iowa law to get 'results they need'

GOP representative tells 'Special Report' there is 'no doubt' she won her congressional election

House Democrats on Tuesday blocked proposed legislation from freshman Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, that would have required illegal immigrants released into the U.S. to receive a negative COVID-19 test. 

The REACT Act would require migrants released into the United States by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) would first have to test negative for coronavirus.

Miller-Meeks’s measure was brought up on the floor a day after the Iowa congresswoman joined some of her colleagues for a trip to see the immigration crisis in El Paso, Texas. The GOP calls to consider the measure were blocked by Democrats.

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Miller-Meeks called for the bill to be brought to the House floor for a vote, saying that the U.S. is facing a "crisis" at the southern border that "must be addressed."

"We are still in a global pandemic, and we are unnecessarily putting lives at risk," wrote the freshman congresswoman.

The Democrats' refusal to consider Miller-Meeks’s bill coincides with a challenge to the Iowa congresswoman's election win by her opponent, Rita Hart, that was voted to move forward in the House Administration Committee on Monday.

Hart will be allowed to present an argument to the House Administration Committee as to why she believes that the seat Miller-Meeks won by a tight six votes belongs to her and not the sitting congresswoman of two months whose win was certified by the state of Iowa.

The committee will then present a report to the full House with their recommendation on who should fill the seat.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that she "of course" believes there is a "scenario" where Miller-Meeks’s victory is overturned in a press conference last week.

"Could you see a scenario? We don't do press conferences on 'can you see a scenario.' Of course! Of course!" said Pelosi. "I respect the work of the committee. ... We'll see where that takes us. There could be a scenario to that extent."