Months of bipartisan negotiations in the US Senate over the fate of young, unauthorized immigrants known as ‘Dreamers’ have turned angry, with the lead Democratic negotiator blasting President Donald Trump for making ‘hardline anti-immigrant’ demands.
Senator Dick Durbin, the number two Senate Democrat, on Friday called Trump’s demand for $18billion in border wall funding ‘outrageous’ and threatened a government shutdown if Democrats’ demands on ‘Dreamers’ aren’t met.
The White House on Friday added the funding request to a list of prior conditions it sent to Congress in early October, including an end to chain migration policies and the diversity lottery, both of which Trump implicated in the wake of recent terror attacks on New York.
Durbin said in a statement that it was ‘outrageous that the White House would undercut months of bipartisan efforts by again trying to put its entire wish-list of hardline anti-immigrant bills – plus an additional $18 billion in wall funding – on the backs of these young people.’
The Democratic whip added on Twitter: ‘President Trump has said he may need a good government shutdown to get his wall. With this demand, he seems to be heading in that direction.’
Senator Dick Durbin (above), the number two Senate Democrat, called Trump’s demand for $18billion in border wall funding ‘outrageous’ and threatened a government shutdown
Trump on Friday added the wall funding request to a list of conditions he sent to Congress in early October, including an end to chain migration policies and the diversity lottery
Trump in September ordered that an Obama-era program that prevented young immigrants from being deported should end in six months. The program is known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
Saving DACA recipients from deportation is a high priority for Democrats, but Republican and Democratic lawmakers have struggled to reach a bipartisan deal.
Durbin said the latest White House move, coming as Congress also struggles to pass a bill by January 19 to fund the government through September, could push federal agencies closer to a shutdown.
Pro-immigration activists have pushed Democrats to use the threat of a government shutdown at the January 19 funding deadline in order to pass a ‘clean’ DACA bill, with no concessions to Trump’s demands.
On Saturday, congressional Republican leaders are due to huddle with Trump at Camp David, the presidential mountain retreat, to discuss 2018 legislative priorities.
About 94 percent of DACA recipients were born in Mexico or Central and South America, and Hispanics tend to vote for Democrats. Pictured: Pro-immigration protest in LA on Wednesday
Trump wants $18billion in border wall funding over 10 years to make a deal to protect DACA recipients. Pictured: Southern border wall prototypes near San Diego
Republican and Democratic leaders are also scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House on Tuesday to talk about immigration legislation.
Earlier, some congressional Republicans downplayed the likelihood of a deal with Democrats on legislation to protect the Dreamers – some 700,000 young immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children.
Republican Senator John Cornyn accused Democrats in a tweet of trying to force a deal on Dreamers by doing a ‘slow walk’ on efforts to approve critical disaster aid and defense spending.
Two other Republicans late on Thursday said the sides remained far apart.
‘Our discussions on border security and enforcement with Democrats are much further apart, and that is key to getting a bipartisan deal on DACA,’ senators Thom Tillis and James Lankford said in a statement.
On October 8, the White House released a list of immigration ‘principles’ Trump wanted in return for giving Dreamers legislative protection from deportation.
A supporter of President Trump confronts police officers and a DACA supporter during a rally outside the office of Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein Wednesday in Los Angeles
Besides the border wall, it included the hiring of 10,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and 300 federal prosecutors.
Immigration advocacy groups fear the hiring expansion would be part of an attempt to round up the adult relatives of Dreamers to ship them to their native countries.
Resubmitting the demands that were dismissed by Democrats three months ago, Durbin said, was ‘outrageous.’ But he added that bipartisan negotiations continue among senators.
Democrats have said they are open to tying DACA to additional funding for border security technology. But they oppose Trump’s wall, which government estimates have said could cost over $21 billion.
Republican lawmakers met with Trump at the White House on Thursday and initially emerged saying they were optimistic that they could find a legislative fix for DACA.
The struggle over the ‘Dreamers’ carries political weight for both parties heading into the November 2018 midterm congressional elections.
About 94 percent of DACA recipients were born in Mexico or Central and South America, and Hispanics tend to vote for Democrats.
Cornyn, in an interview on Fox News on Friday, said Trump would demand that an immigration deal address the visa lottery system and chain migration that unites family members.
‘Those are things that he’s insisted upon,’ and Democrats would have to embrace them along with border security, said Cornyn.