Trump supports path to citizenship for up to 1.8 million ‘dreamers’ in new White Hous

[baseline bum]

Trump supports path to citizenship for up to 1.8 million ‘dreamers’ in new White House proposal
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...d9d_story.html
By David Nakamura and Sean Sullivan January 25 at 5:09 PM

President Trump’s immigration proposal to Congress will include a path to citizenship for an estimated 1.8 million young undo ented immigrants, White House officials said Thursday, more than twice the number of “dreamers” who were enrolled in a deferred action program Trump terminated last fall.

The figure represents a significant concession to Democrats but is likely to produce sharp blowback among conservative Republicans. The White House cast the move as one piece of an immigration framework that would significantly tighten border control laws.

Trump’s plan, which will be formally sent to the Senate on Monday, also includes a $25 billion “trust fund” for a border wall and additional security upgrades on both the southwest and northern U.S. borders. And the president will propose significant curbs to legal immigration channels, restricting the ability of U.S. citizens to pe ion for visas only for spouses and minor children and ending categories for parents and siblings. Both of those provisions are likely to engender fierce objections among liberal Democrats.

Senior White House officials, who briefed reporters on the details, described the plan as a compromise intended to break an immigration impasse as Congress deliberates over the future of 690,000 enrolled in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) whose temporary work permits will begin to expire March 5.

The officials said that the plan will be delivered to the Senate with hopes that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would bring a bill to the floor the week of Feb. 6, just days before a Feb. 8 deadline for a must-pass spending bill to keep the government open. Many Democrats and some Republicans said they will not support a long-term spending bill without an immigration deal.

“This is kind of a bottom line,” said one senior administration official, who like the others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a proposal that had not been made public. “This is the president’s position. Then it goes to the Hill and they digest it and develop a bill they think can pass. ... If it’s realistic, he’ll sign it. If not, he won’t.”

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), an immigration moderate who has worked with Democrats on past proposals, hailed the White House plan in a tweet: “President Obama tried and couldn’t fix immigration. President Bush tried and couldn’t do it. I believe President Trump can. Today’s DACA recipients can be tomorrow’s #TRUMPDreamers.”

But Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.) slammed the border wall funding as a “ransom for Dreamers” and said the plan “doesn’t pass the laugh test.”

The details of the White House plan come a day after Trump told reporters that he would be open to an immigration deal that includes a path to citizenship that would take up to 12 years for DACA recipients, immigrants known as dreamers who have lived in the country illegally since they were children.

Trump and senior aides indicated on Wednesday that the citizenship path would be limited to the 690,000 dreamers in the program when the president terminated it. Officials said Thursday that the citizenship path would be open to anyone who had been eligible for DACA, even the hundreds of thousands of dreamers who never applied. The Migration Policy Ins ute has estimated that 1.3 million dreamers were eligible for DACA last year with another 600,000 who could potentially become eligible if they met certain requirements.

White House officials acknowledged that the House would likely consider a separate immigration proposal that could take a more conservative approach, potentially setting up a cross-chamber conference for a final deal that would come to Trump’s desk.

“We’re grateful for the president showing leadership on this issue and believe his ideas will help us ultimately reach a balanced solution,” said Doug Andres, spokesman for House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.).

But getting to that point remains fraught and the White House proposal is likely to be treated in the Senate as a starting point in the debate, not the bottom line. Conservative news sites hammered Trump for his support of a path to citizenship, with Breitbart News calling the president “Amnesty Don” in a headline Thursday.

Democrats will be under pressure from immigration groups to reject the proposal.

“This is going to be dead on arrival. We are going to oppose it fiercely,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, an immigrant rights organization. “We are going to expect every Democrat to oppose it. And the idea that they are going to exploit the desperation of Democrats and dreamers to take a wrecking ball to the Statue of Liberty is a non-starter.”

White House aides said the plan was the result of months of talks between the administration and lawmakers and cast it as an effort to provide Congress greater clarity over what Trump would support in an immigration deal. Some lawmakers have complained that the president has vacillated between signaling he was supportive of a deal only to pullback after speaking with aides or immigration hardliners.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he would be willing to move forward with a vote on an immigration bill that had support from Trump. In a statement Thursday, McConnell said the new framework helped fulfill that goal and urged lawmakers to “look to this framework for guidance as they work towards an agreement.”

Though Trump is in Davos, Switzerland, for an economic forum until late Friday, Chief of Staff John F. Kelly has remained in Washington to keep in close contact with Congress. However, Kelly did not visit Capitol Hill on Thursday, aides said.

White House aides dismissed the notion that Trump’s proposal was too hardline for Democrats and some moderate Republicans. One official pointed to the failed attempts by Congress to pass sweeping immigration bills under president George W. Bush and Barack Obama and said Trump’s proposal aims to appeal to more conservative members by beefing up border security and limiting family immigration, which the president has derisively referred to as “chain migration.”

The White House plan notably does not allow parents of dreamers to remain in the country, an issue that is likely to inflame tensions. A proposal from Graham and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), which Trump rejected earlier this month, would have allowed parents of dreamers to seek renewable permits allowing them to stay in the United States but not seek legal permanent residency.

Another potential sticking point centers on Trump’s proposal to end a diversity visa lottery that has awarded about 50,000 green cards annually to foreigners from countries with low immigration rates to the United States, including many African nations.

Under Trump’s plan, those visas would go toward speeding up a waiting list backlog of up to 4 million family members of U.S. citizens who have already applied for green cards. Trump would allow those family members’ applications to be processed even as he terminates some family categories.

The Durbin-Graham proposal would have reallocated the diversity lottery visas to some of the hundreds of thousands of immigrants already in the United States who have “temporary protected status” allowing them to remain because it is deemed too dangerous to return to their home countries. Trump has declared an end to TPS status for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and other countries, angering Democrats.

“We have a right as Americans to decide who comes to America,” said one senior administration official. This official emphasized that the U.S. economy has transitioned to high-skilled jobs and added: “We need different immigrants today than we needed when my . . . family came here. Most countries in the world have developed an approach to immigration that says we want people that we need.”

When asked if Trump would support a “DACA only bill” if the Senate fails to pass the White House proposal, one aide replied: “This is DACA” and held up a one-page summary including border wall money and legal immigration cuts.

Josh Dawsey and Michael Scherer contributed to this report.

[baseline bum]

I think this is probably a workable compromise that can pass both houses. I hate the money being thrown at the re ed border wall, but the GOP is in power and this is Trump's only chance to build it, so he's going to fight it to the death if the Democrats want DACA protection in this year's budget. Aside from the wall I agree with most of what Trump is proposing on immigration, though I would provide a path to sponsor elderly parents for legal residency for citizens who show they have sufficient savings and income to take care of their parents. I'm all for ending the green card lottery, picking people at random to come here is stupid as . I would probably also negotiate to allow DACA parents to be allowed to stay a few years until the kids are 18 before deporting the parents. DACA parents definitely don't deserve citizenship or permanent status though, to with rewarding people who jump the line. But with those couple of tweaks I would probably vote yes on a bill with these guidelines if I was in congress.

[rmt]

Sign me up for this proposal. I also like the idea of a trust for the wall - people who feel strongly about it, can contribute to it - Trump better get his wall built before he exits the WH or it'll never be built.

[spurraider21]

Sign me up for this proposal. I also like the idea of a trust for the wall - people who feel strongly about it, can contribute to it - Trump better get his wall built before he exits the WH or it'll never be built.

only mexicans should be allowed to contribute, per his campaign promise

[spurraider21]

I think this is probably a workable compromise that can pass both houses. I hate the money being thrown at the re ed border wall, but the GOP is in power and this is Trump's only chance to build it, so he's going to fight it to the death if the Democrats want DACA protection in this year's budget. Aside from the wall I agree with most of what Trump is proposing on immigration, though I would provide a path to sponsor elderly parents for legal residency for citizens who show they have sufficient savings and income to take care of their parents. I'm all for ending the green card lottery, picking people at random to come here is stupid as . I would probably also negotiate to allow DACA parents to be allowed to stay a few years until the kids are 18 before deporting the parents. DACA parents definitely don't deserve citizenship or permanent status though, to with rewarding people who jump the line. But with those couple of tweaks I would probably vote yes on a bill with these guidelines if I was in congress.

basically this

[Pavlov]

Amnesty good now.

[rmt]

only mexicans should be allowed to contribute, per his campaign promise

Just like "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" and "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan" - guess which broken promise hurt the American people more.

And get the money appropriated and put in the trust.

[Reck]

This is an awful deal for everyone involved. Even the Trump s.

We're giving up:

-Billions for a dumbass wall
-Severely handicapping chain migration. Essentially ending it.
-End of Lottery system

And we only get DACA. laughable

To add insult to injury, the legal immigrants who were here already and do not need to be legalized are also getting affected by chain migration. It's basically applicable for people who are here legally already.

Dont know what baseline bum finds workable here.

[spurraider21]

Just like "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" and "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan" - guess which broken promise hurt the American people more.

And get the money appropriated and put in the trust.

broken promises ok now

[baseline bum]

This is an awful deal for everyone involved. Even the Trump s.

We're giving up:

-Billions for a dumbass wall
-Severely handicapping chain migration. Essentially ending it.
-End of Lottery system

And we only get DACA. laughable

To add insult to injury, the legal immigrants who were here already and do not need to be legalized are also getting affected by chain migration. It's basically applicable for people who are here legally already.

Dont know what baseline bum finds workable here.

It's kind of funny hearing you rant about ending family migration while using Trump's chain migration buzzword for it.

[spurraider21]

This is an awful deal for everyone involved. Even the Trump s.

We're giving up:

-Billions for a dumbass wall
-Severely handicapping chain migration. Essentially ending it.
-End of Lottery system

And we only get DACA. laughable

To add insult to injury, the legal immigrants who were here already and do not need to be legalized are also getting affected by chain migration. It's basically applicable for people who are here legally already.

Dont know what baseline bum finds workable here.

because you dont have a democrat house, a democrat senate, or a democrat president and DACA is on a timer. you're not going to get a wish list

and who gives a about losing the lottery system? never made any in sense. you have people who've been waiting for years for their green card and some shmuck wins a "lottery" months in?

[Pelicans78]

The border wall is dumb. Such an inefficient waste of funds.

[rmt]

The border wall is dumb. Such an inefficient waste of funds.

When has that ever stopped the government?

[monosylab1k]

Stephen Miller must have gotten put in timeout.

[baseline bum]

The border wall is dumb. Such an inefficient waste of funds.

Yeah but it's the only way this is going to happen. You know the Democrats aren't going to give Trump the 9 votes he needs to keep the government open without DACA. Trump has to know this could be his only chance to fund the wall with it looking like the Democrats have a great shot at taking back the house.

[baseline bum]

When has that ever stopped the government?

government waste good now

[Axl Rose]

This is an awful deal for everyone involved. Even the Trump s.

We're giving up:

-Billions for a dumbass wall
-Severely handicapping chain migration. Essentially ending it.
-End of Lottery system

And we only get DACA. laughable

To add insult to injury, the legal immigrants who were here already and do not need to be legalized are also getting affected by chain migration. It's basically applicable for people who are here legally already.

Dont know what baseline bum finds workable here.

How are chain migration and the lottery system assets to “give up”

[spurraider21]

The border wall is dumb. Such an inefficient waste of funds.

i actually think it's an incredibly efficient waste of funds

[rmt]

This is an awful deal for everyone involved. Even the Trump s.

We're giving up:

-Billions for a dumbass wall
-Severely handicapping chain migration. Essentially ending it.
-End of Lottery system

And we only get DACA. laughable

To add insult to injury, the legal immigrants who were here already and do not need to be legalized are also getting affected by chain migration. It's basically applicable for people who are here legally already.

Dont know what baseline bum finds workable here.

It's called COMPROMISE.

[DarrinS]

There has to be a more high tech solution to securing the border besides a physical wall.

[CosmicCowboy]

There has to be a more high tech solution to securing the border besides a physical wall.

I assume you realize they arent talking about a wall the entire length of the border. Just in populated areas similar to what they did already in san diego.

[rmt]

Trump goes big, bold and daring - really didn't expect this (including the others who didn't sign up). But I'll happily trade for end to chain migration (sans nuclear family), end to diversity lottery and using a merit-based system - it'll pay for itself in a few years and good for the country long-term.

[DarrinS]

I assume you realize they arent talking about a wall the entire length of the border. Just in populated areas similar to what they did already in san diego.

Do they stop tunnels?

[monosylab1k]

Trump goes big, bold and daring - really didn't expect this (including the others who didn't sign up). But I'll happily trade for end to chain migration (sans nuclear family), end to diversity lottery and using a merit-based system - it'll pay for itself in a few years and good for the country long-term.

a ing immigrant saying about hindering other people’s chance to immigrate to the US. off you cunt .

[Pelicans78]

When has that ever stopped the government?

Because two wrongs make a right.