Trump Injects Chaos Into Immigration Debate – Opposing, Then Backing GOP Bill

Pelosi’s contempt for President Donald Trump’s immigration policy erupted outside the sun-baked Capitol after the President announced earlier in the morning that the Republican compromise bill brokered by House Speaker Paul Ryan, and Trumps’ own advisers, was not tough enough for Trump to sign.

GOPUSA Editor’s Note: Damage?

“Congress doesn’t have the best track record in moving quickly on things like this”, said Arkansas Republican Sen. Under the bill, jurisdictions that decline to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement could be held liable for failing to detain people in the US illegally for deportation proceedings.

House Republicans are considering next steps on two immigration bills.

Trump’s comments about making “changes” were referencing the new provision on family separation, multiple sources told CNN.

“He would sign either the Goodlatte or the leadership Bills”.

He warned that Republicans “will lose the House and Trump will be impeached” if the House backs the new measure, according to Iowa Rep. Steve King, an immigration hard-liner who was in attendance. “That’s Democrats wanting to do that and they could solve it very easily by getting together”.

The clash between Trump and congressional Republicans makes it increasingly likely that Republicans will need to work with Democrats if they want to pass a bill that could overcome a presidential veto.

Anxious that the lack of progress on his signature border wall will make him look “soft”, according to one adviser, Trump has unleashed a series of tweets playing up the dangers posed by members of the MS-13 gang – which make up a minuscule percentage of those who cross the border.

While the White House signaled Trump may be open to a narrow fix to deal with the problem, the president spent the day stressing immigration policies that he has championed throughout his surprise political career.

In an election year in which Democrats appear to have an advantage on voter enthusiasm, Republicans can ill afford to alienate any voters this fall, particularly their most passionate supporters. When parents who come with children are arrested for jumping the border, it means at least a short-term separation while the parent goes to jail for a few days.

But he said he wouldn’t support an immigration bill unless it also blocked employers from hiring immigrants who are in the US illegally, eliminated “sanctuary cities” and ended family-based migration. Nadler was among a group of Democratic lawmakers who visited a detention facility in New Jersey on Sunday, meeting with detained asylum seekers who had been separated from their families.

“They like what’s in the bill”, he said.

The bill also declares that ICE can request state and local jurisdictions to hold an immigrant up to 96 hours after their release date. “Parents are being held prisoner inside, literally crying to us to be reunited with their families”.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, a DHS official who declined to be identified said that almost 2,000 children had been separated from 1,940 adults from April 19 through May 31. That policy applies to thousands of cases each month.

Republicans, particularly those in more moderate districts, are anxious they will be damaged by the searing images of children held in cages at border facilities, as well as by audio recordings of young children crying for their parents.

Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan M. Collins of ME sent a letter challenging the truthfulness of the administration and demanding answers.

This bill prohibits officials from removing a child under the age of 18 from their parent or legal guardian at or near a port of entry within 100 miles of the border. “And the administration needs to put an end to that right off”. But the administration has unsuccessfully pushed to overhaul President Barack Obama’s health care law and has struggled to develop compromise legislation on immigration. The White House has cited the Bible in defending its “zero tolerance” approach to illegal border crossings.

That won’t be in time to inform this week’s House debate. And it’s unclear if Trump’s backing will help the compromise legislation that GOP leaders negotiated with moderate Republicans.

One bill, known as the Goodlatte bill – after its direction from Republican Rep. Yet electoral success for Democrats would nearly certainly mean losing some of their most likely partners in the Republican caucus.

This more conservative alternative, which will also get a House vote Thursday, would provide a pathway to legal status for Dreamers while limiting legal immigration levels.

Trump’s commitment to the current policy showed no sign of faltering as voices of outrage and condemnation grew louder and more diverse.

“I am looking at both of them”, Mr. Trump said on “Fox and Friends”.

The revision would also give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to use $7 billion in border technology funding to pay for family detention centers, said the person, who was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and commented only on condition of anonymity.

Underscoring the sensitivity of the issue, language curbing the taking of immigrant children from parents held in custody will be added to the House’s conservative immigration bill, a House GOP aide said Monday, A similar provision is already in a compromise GOP immigration measure between party conservatives and moderates, with the House expected to vote on both late this week.