WASHINGTON — The House voted Thursday to resume the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children, a largely symbolic move in the first immigration-related vote in either chamber of Congress this year and a measure of the daunting challenge facing supporters of a sweeping overhaul of existing law on the subject.
The party-line vote was aimed at blocking implementation of President Obama’s 2012 election-year order to stop deportations of many so-called Dream Act individuals. Democrats on the House floor reacted with boos when the provision was added to a routine spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
The administration has threatened to veto the overall legislation on budgetary grounds. But today’s vote nevertheless stood as a stark warning from conservatives who dominate the ranks of the Republican House majority about attempts in the Senate to grant a chance at citizenship to an estimated 11 million immigrants residing in the country illegally.
And the White House reacted sharply, saying the measure would affect people who are ‘‘productive members of society who were brought here as young children, grew up in our communities, and became American in every way but on paper.’’
The legislation advanced on a 75-22 procedural vote that sets up a vote to pass the measure next Monday. The bill would cost almost $100 billion annually and would set policy for farm subsidies, food stamps, and other farm and food aid programs.
This will be the second time the Senate has voted on the farm bill. The chamber passed the legislation last year, but the House did not take it up. This year, Republican leaders have said the House will vote on the bill, possibly this month.