President Donald Trump laid down a proposal for a border security compromise that would provide temporary protection from deportation to some 700,000 illegal immigrants in exchange for border wall funding.
The proposal also included a list of measures generally supported by both parties, including humanitarian funding, drug detection technology, and extending protections for people who have fled wars and disasters.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) rejected the offer, but her response seemed to leave some room for negotiation.
Wall Still In
Trump and the Democrats failed to reach an agreement on the border wall funding, which lead to some quarter of the federal government to shut down on Dec. 22.He then presented his proposal, which he called “straightforward, fair, reasonable and common sense, with lots of compromise.”
He retained the demand for $5.7 billion for border wall construction, but repeatedly qualified the plan.
“This is not a 2,000-mile concrete structure from sea to sea,” he said. “These are steel barriers in high-priority locations.”
He invoked the authority of border security officials, who back the need for a barrier.
DACA, TPS Relief
In a sign of compromise, he offered three years of “legislative relief” for the 700,000 recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children. The relief would allow for work permits, social security numbers, and protection from deportation.In September 2017, Trump rescinded DACA, but federal judges in New York and California put his action on hold. Trump previously said he expected his action would be upheld by the Supreme Court, which may rule on the issue sometime this year, perhaps in the summer, he said.
In July, the administration extended the program for Somalia and Yemen. But it’s scheduled to expire in 2019 for Nepal, South Sudan, and Syria.
Trump ended the program for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador, but again, a federal judge put his decision on hold.
In addition, Trump’s proposal includes 2,700 additional border agents and other law enforcement personnel and 75 immigration judge teams.
The immigration court system is extremely overburdened with a backlog of nearly 900,000 cases.
Trump vs Pelosi
Trump said Senate leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is ready to put legislation enshrining Trump’s proposal to a vote. Republicans would need at least seven Democrat votes to overcome a filibuster in the Senate.The main hurdle, however, is in the House of Representatives, where Democrats hold majority.
However strained already, Trump’s relationship with Pelosi has been put to further test over the past week.
In an exchange of power moves, Trump denied Pelosi foreign trip using government plane on Jan. 17, when she was already on her way to the airport, leading to an embarrassing moment when she was forced to turn around and later cancel the trip.
Trump appeared to be responding to Pelosi’s withdrawing invitation to Trump for the annual State of the Union address on the House floor. Pelosi cited security reasons, telling Trump to reschedule for after the government reopens, but the Secret Service rebuked the security argument.
In his Jan. 19 remarks, Trump may have taken another jab at Pelosi, saying his proposal wouldn’t affect the availability of foreign workers to “our farmers and vineyards.”
Response
Pelosi’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.“Unfortunately, initial reports make clear that his proposal is a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable and in total, do not represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people’s lives,” she said. “It is unlikely that any one of these provisions alone would pass the House, and taken together, they are a non-starter. For one thing, this proposal does not include the permanent solution for the Dreamers and TPS recipients that our country needs and supports.”
“Dreamers” is another word for illegal immigrants who came to the country as minors.
Pelosi went on to list four border security measures the Democrats support: additional ports of entry, new drug detection technology, hiring more than 3,000 customs and border patrol personnel, and more immigration judges. Three of these measures appear to be a part of Trump’s proposal.
Graham previously said that Democrats would have to offer much more than $5 billion for the wall to get a permanent solution for DACA.
Trump has backed protections, including legal status for the DACA population, before. But in exchange, he wanted $25 billion for the border wall and other security as well as moving the immigration system to one that is more merit-based.
