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President Trump on Wednesday will use the bully pulpit to rally support for tough immigration legislation, a day after he was forced to watch the Senate pull the plug on a healthcare reform bill that Trump has sought since his election.

Trump will meet at the White House with victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants, in a bid to boost two bills that the House is expected to pass Thursday before lawmakers leave for the July 4 break. The bills are aimed at thwarting "sanctuary cities" that refuse to cooperate with federal officials on immigration and imposing tougher penalties against deported criminals who re-enter the United States.

Trump has spoken out often as a candidate and as president about the need for tougher policies against illegal immigrant criminals.

In February, he brought victims of illegal immigrants to Congress as guests for his first remarks to joint session of Congress. He set up a new office in the Department of Homeland Security to help victims of these crimes.

"We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media and silenced by special interests," he said in his joint session speech. "Joining us in the audience tonight are four very brave Americans whose government failed them."

On Wednesday, he'll draw attention to the issue once more by meeting immigration crime victims at the White House as part of an effort to create the semblance of legislative momentum on one of his goals.

Trump was not happy Tuesday after he watched the Senate buckle and call for a delay of several weeks before calling up a bill to partially repeal Obamacare. He called in every Republican senator to the White House and warned that the GOP was at risk of losing its majority unless it found a way to move on the complicated issue.

"He was encouraging us to figure out a way forward and kind of the cost of failure, of what it would mean not to get it done," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said.

Trump's job for the rest of the week will be much easier, as the two immigration bills he'll support will get votes in the House and will pass easily thanks to the GOP's majority there. They're also related to a bill that passed in the House in the last Congress under former President Barack Obama, who was never going to sign them into law.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said Trump is the big difference this year when it comes to their passage into law.

"The holdup has been getting a president of the United States who would sign this bill into law," he said of the failed attempt last year.

The first bill up on Thursday will be the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, a bill aimed at discouraging the formation of sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with the federal government on immigration.

Goodlatte's bill would withhold some federal grants to jurisdictions that prohibit their officers from communicating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and require illegal immigrants convicted of dangerous crimes to be detained during removal proceedings.

The legislation would also permit lawsuits by victims of crime against jurisdictions that practice sanctuary city policies.

The second bill is Kate's Law, which would impose tougher penalties against deported felons who return to the United States. The bill is named after Kate Steinle, who was killed by an illegal immigrant who had been deported five times.

"We owe it to the families of those who lost loved ones to take action to prevent these horrible crimes," Goodlatte said last week as his bills were being teed up for a vote. "They have waited far too long."

Original post:
Trump to rally Congress on immigration after healthcare setback - Washington Examiner