House Republicans are fracturing over a bipartisan immigration plan, a feud that serves as a microcosm of the broader battle roiling the party ahead of the midterms.

The Dignity Act faces an onslaught of criticism from the right that is leaving some of its Republican backers exasperated. Instead of backing off of their support for the proposal, its Republican supporters are digging in — a sign of how intractable the fight over immigration policy is, even among Trump-supporting Republicans.

Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., who’s also a member of the hardline Freedom Caucus, called the Dignity Act a “good bill” and said he wanted his conservative colleagues to relent on the criticism. “I think we need to be realistic,” added Stutzman.

“There’s always controversy over a bill that people don’t read and then opine on it before they read it,” said Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., another supporter.

The legislation attempts to strike a balance between border security and immigration reform, attracting bipartisan support as well as backing from some business groups. The proposal would bolster border security, create a pathway for legal residency for “Dreamers” and DACA recipients, and revamp the legal immigration process, among other provisions.

The GOP’s tumult over one of the few bipartisan immigration proposals in President Donald Trump’s second term is a window into broader unease over immigration during the Trump presidency. Although Republicans largely back Trump’s hardline stances on border security and deportations, they’ve already discussed the need for a rhetorical shift in response to a public backlash to the administration’s mass deportation campaign.

At the same time, Republicans are nowhere near consensus on how to handle legal immigration pathways or the estimated 14 million immigrants who are living in the US without legal authorization.

For the right flank of the party like some of the House Freedom Caucus, the legislation and its so-called “dignity status” for immigrants who have lived in the country for more than five years is antithetical to the hardline approach to immigration ushered in by Trump’s 2024 victory. Conservatives voiced criticism of the legislation on social media and in interviews and even formed a new PAC to back primary challengers to the bill’s backers.

“It’s a violation of core conservative principles. It’s a betrayal of everything that we ran on in the last election. It would be terrible for the country,” said Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, of the bill. And Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., described the bloc’s objection as both cosmetic — “it’s named in Spanish,” he said — and policy-based because it “offers amnesty to people who are here.”

Supporters of the proposal strenuously deny the bill includes “amnesty” provisions. What’s more, the legislation has no clear path to getting a vote on the House floor, which has left some of its backers even more baffled by the pushback.

House Republicans are focused instead on enforcement-related legislation and are preparing to take up party-line legislation to bolster the Department of Homeland Security’s funding for three years as well. They still haven’t passed a Senate bill that would reopen most of the department.

Some lawmakers are instead staking their hopes on building momentum behind the legislation by having the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus endorse it and eventually getting it in front of the president, whom they hope could endorse it.

“It’s up to the president. The president is a very smart guy,” said the bill’s Republican lead, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla. “He comes from hospitality and from construction.”

She also ruled out the prospect of a discharge petition to force the bill to the House floor, saying “I’m going to do it the hard way.”