Fact Check

Did Pelosi Offer to Drop Impeachment in Exchange for Full Immigrant Amnesty?

To date, U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has not embraced the idea of attempting to impeach President Donald Trump.

Published July 17, 2019

 (Albert H. Teich / Shutterstock.com )
Image Via Albert H. Teich / Shutterstock.com
Claim:
U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi offered to drop impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump in exchange for legislation giving amnesty to all undocumented immigrants in the United States.

In mid-July 2019, websites reported that U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had floated an offer to drop congressional efforts to impeach President Donald Trump in exchange for legislation granting full amnesty to every undocumented immigrant in the United States.

An article that first appeared on Daily World Update and was reposted on Fight for America claimed Trump was "mulling over" a deal "cobbled together" by Pelosi, who up to that point had resisted pressure from fellow Democrats to initiate impeachment hearings against the Republican president:

For some time now, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been inundated with her Congress’s progressive caucus pleading for her to begin impeachment hearings for President Trump. As the days go on, more and more pressure for her to do the deed grows, so she’s evidently come up with a plan cobbled together over several rounds of Alabama Slammers at the nearby Broken Drum bar : She will drop all impeachment activity in exchange for President Trump’s signature on a bill giving amnesty to every undocumented person within the United States.

The article reported that the amnesty program would confer not only citizenship on all undocumented immigrants, but automatic enrollment in Medicare and Social Security programs as well. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican and Trump supporter, supposedly saw positive aspects in the proposal and was quoted as saying:

"It would be nice to have that constant naughty threat of impeaching our poor, sweet President taken away. He doesn’t deserve it, my stars and garters, he doesn’t. Every time I hear that talk, I get the vapors. And all we’d need to do is legalize a few gorgeous Mexican poolboys. Sounds heavenly."

None of this rang true. No such developments were reported by mainstream news outlets. To date, Pelosi has shown no signs of caving in to other Democrats' calls for impeachment proceedings, insisting that the better course is to defeat Trump at the polls in 2020 instead. Conventional wisdom holds that even if the House of Representatives voted to impeach the president, it would be all but impossible to achieve the Senate majority required to convict and remove him from office, given the Republicans' 53-47 majority in that body. Nor is it likely that Republicans would accept any compromise granting universal amnesty to undocumented immigrants, given that stemming illegal immigration is one of party's top issues.

Lastly, consider the source. Daily World Update is part of a network of junk news websites and social media accounts that pushes out reams of fabricated, inflammatory political content labeled as "satire." A disclaimer on the websites reads: "Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site’s pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical."

Sources

Pazniokas, Mark.   "Nancy Pelosi Promises to Fight, Not Impeach, Trump."    The Connecticut Mirror.   21 June 2019.

Daily World Update.   "Pelosi Offers to Drop Impeachment in Exchange For Full Immigrant Amnesty."     15 July 2019.

Fight for America.   "Pelosi Offers to Drop Impeachment in Exchange for Full Immigrant Amnesty."     15 July 2019.

David Emery is a West Coast-based writer and editor with 25 years of experience fact-checking rumors, hoaxes, and contemporary legends.