SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, said Friday he would support an immigration bill dealing with protections for DACA recipients and border security if a rarely used maneuver gets it to the floor of Congress.

"If I'm given that choice, I'll support it. But I would feel like we had missed something," Curtis told members of the Deseret News and KSL editorial boards, citing the need for any immigration legislation to also address worker visas.

That's why the newest member of the state's all-GOP congressional delegation said he's a "little hesitant" to join Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, in signing on to what's known as a discharge petition to force a vote on several immigration bills.

The other two U.S. House members from Utah, Reps. Rob Bishop and Chris Stewart, won't be signing the discharge petition, according to statements issued Friday by their offices.

Love is among the 19 Republicans so far supporting the effort that House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has warned could turn into "a spectacle on the floor that just results in a veto" by President Donald Trump.

"This is not something you want to do. It's kind of difficult," Love said during a later meeting Friday with the editorial boards. "It's pretty much a last-ditch effort to show leadership that they don't control everything."

She said Ryan has not offered a good reason for not giving members an opportunity to vote on immigration legislation, including the bipartisan bill she supports, known as the Uniting and Securing America Act.

Introduced in January, the USA Act would give a pathway to permanent legal status to immigrants brought into the country illegally as children, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, and strengthen security along the border.

It's one of four bills that would be considered if a majority of the House, 218 members, sign the discharge petition. With most, if not all, of the 193 House Democrats expected to be on board, at least 25 Republicans would have to sign.

Love was optimistic that goal would be reached.

"People are being courageous," she said, especially as they feel more public pressure. Love, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, said the decision about considering immigration legislation should not be based on what Trump might do.

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"He changes his mind all the time," she said of the president.

Love said she told Ryan, her assigned congressional mentor, that in Utah, "these are values that we live by. This is not just the right thing for us to do as we see it, but (for) the majority of us, this is part of our faith."

Curtis said other immigration issues besides DACA and border security also need to be dealt with by Congress, particularly related to seasonal workers in the agriculture, recreation, hospitality and landscape industries.

"Right now, we have a strong need in our state for these seasonal workers. I get calls weekly from businesses that say, 'I'm in trouble, I cannot get the workers that I need,'" Curtis said.

Yet, he said, Utah has "this pool of hardworking, law-abiding, taxpaying people. We can't match them up. That's frustrating to me. That's one (immigration issue) that's not talked about as much as it should be," he said.

His ideal solution, Curtis said, would be to allow states to determine what workers are needed rather than the current system, where "somebody back in Washington, D.C., is trying to decide how many cherry pickers we need."

He said he has "spent a lot of time" thinking about the discharge petition, and while he agrees with the end goal of getting Congress to act on immigration issues, it might not be the way to go.

"One of the things that's holding me back on the discharge petition is, is that really going to advance something the quickest. … (Or) do we waste a lot of time, precious time, if we advance something that will just be vetoed," Curtis said.

Still, the congressman said that if the effort succeeds, he would be willing to support a bill focused on just DACA and border security.

"I'm all on board with both of those. I want to solve this DACA issue. We need a solution. And I'm also a supporter of stronger border security," Curtis said. But he said it would be a missed opportunity.

"That's my worry, is that once we solve that, we won't come back to the other issues," he said. "So I'm trying to tie them together."

Both Curtis and Love face significant challenges in their re-election bids this year.

State Republican delegates decided last month that Curtis, who was elected in November 2016 to fill the vacancy left by former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, should square off again against former state lawmaker Chris Herrod in the June primary.

Herrod, who took a tough stance on immigration as a Utah legislator, said he would not sign the discharge petition if he were in Congress because the immigration bills being discussed don't go far enough.

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Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, said Wednesday she's part of the group of House members attempting a rare congressional maneuver to force a vote on a series of bills protecting DACA recipients.

"I've never been afraid to take on difficult issues, but I think there's a reason the speaker is not putting it forward," he said. Immigration "has to be dealt completely with, otherwise, we're going to come back to the same problem."

Love does not have a primary election but is going up against Democratic Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams in November, a race that is seen nationally as unusually competitive for Republican-dominated Utah.

McAdams said he'd like to see all three of the members of Congress who represent portions of Salt Lake County — Love, Curtis and Stewart — "take action. It's been delayed for too long and we need to bring solutions to protect our kids."

His campaign has pointed out Love's votes against DACA, a program created by then-President Barack Obama. Trump announced an end to DACA, but federal courts have blocked that decision.

Love said the 2015 votes were against executive action on immigration.

McAdams blamed Washington's failure to deal with the issue "for the mess we have today" and said Love "is part of the problem. Her past efforts to deport 'Dreamers' and defund DACA got us to where we are today. Now that it's an election year, she's got a new position."

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