A week of open debate in the U.S. Senate failed to produce an immigration bill that a majority of lawmakers were willing to support, effectively bringing reform efforts to a standstill.
But the White House says it’s not giving up on its fight for border wall funding and a list of other changes to legal and illegal immigration practices, including DACA, that the president has been demanding.
‘We’re going to stay on it,’ Vice President Mike Pence said in an interview with Fox & Friends that aired on Monday morning.
A week of open debate in the U.S. Senate failed to produce an immigration bill that a majority of lawmakers were willing to support. ‘We’re going to stay on it,’ Vice President Mike Pence said in an interview with Fox & Friends
The VP said, ‘President Trump made a commitment to the American people that we’re going to build a wall. That means we’re going to have a physical barrier on our southern border.’
Senators left Washington on Thursday evening no closer to an agreement than they were four days prior when they were granted the free-wheeling discussion they had been clamoring for on the upper chamber’s floor.
Legislators came close to passing a bipartisan measure to provide the $25 billion in funds for Trump’s border barrier. It failed on a vote of 54-45 after the White House and Department of Homeland Security mounted a zealous opposition to instructions within the bill to make illegal immigrants who arrive after June of 2018 a priority for deportation.
The administration also objected to the way the bill defined the Dreamer population.
Officials said the measure would have greatly expanded upon the number of illegal immigrants who are currently covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program – even beyond the 1.8 million that were advertised.
The true population of amnesty recipients would have been upward of three million, an official told DailyMail.com, pointing to an assessment that was conducted by the Migration Policy Institute.
Trump favors a bill introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassely, an Iowa Republican who chairs the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, that appropriates the money for his wall on the United States’ border with Mexico, codifies DACA, alters family-based migration and eliminates a visa category for immigrants from less populated nations.
That legislation would have put current DACA recipients plus other qualified illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children but did not apply for the protections when they were offered on a pathway to citizenship.
It could not muster enough bipartisan support to reach the Senate’s 60-vote hurdle, either.
Democrats accused Trump of sabotaging immigration reform efforts on Thursday evening as senators left the Capitol empty-handed.
Grassley called it a ‘sad day for many Americans and for many dreamers who would have had a rare pathway to citizenship’ if his amendment had passed.
‘It’s unfortunate that so many of my colleagues, when given the chance to finally give citizenship to DACA kids, refused to do so,’ he said.
Tthe White House says it’s not giving up on its fight for border wall funding and a list of other changes to legal and illegal immigration practices, including DACA, that the president has been demanding
Trump in a weekend tweet accused Democrats of not wanting to find a permanent fix for the DACA program that is entangled in a court battle that has postponed its March 5 expiration.
Placing the blame for the stalemate squarely at the other party’s feet on Friday, he said, ‘Cannot believe how BADLY DACA recipients have been treated by the Democrats…totally abandoned!’
The president asserted that ‘Republicans are still working hard’ to arrive at a compromise, however.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who found himself under assault by the White House after he criticized Trump’s top policy adviser for leading the president down a path that the South Carolinian said would not end with a deal, said in a Thursday statement that ‘further politicization’ of the issue would not be beneficial.
He also said, ‘Looking ahead, I continue to believe there is a deal to be had on immigration that gives President Trump many of his priorities on the border and relief for the DACA-eligible population.’
On a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, Pence told Fox & Friends that the administration was ‘disappointed’ with the failed Senate negotiations yet it and the president remain ‘absolutely committed’ to striking a deal that encases Trump’s four pillars of immigration reform
On a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, Pence said the administration was ‘disappointed’ with the failed Senate negotiations yet it and the president remain ‘absolutely committed’ to striking a deal that encases Trump’s four pillars of immigration reform.
‘It’s absolutely imperative we do it and once that funding is provided, we’ll make the decisions,’ Pence said of the wall in an interview with Fox. ‘And I guarantee you, this build or turn president will get that wall built faster than you can possibly imagine.’