Immigration Deal May Not Be Possible Before DACA Ends

No one is entertaining a government shutdown over the issue, but Republicans know as soon as they pass another short-term funding bill days from now – to a hail of scorn from lawmakers in both parties even as they vote for it – they will have to deal with DACA this month.

The discussion on immigration has become hotly contested in both legislative houses with the United States government facing a new threat of lack of government funding from Congress. DACA is short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program that permits illegal aliens of a certain age to stay in the country.

In his State of the Union address Tuesday, Trump offered to support not just legal status but a path to citizenship for almost 2 million illegal immigrants – the “Dreamers” who were brought to the United States as children through no fault of their own – if Democrats would agree to fund his border wall and limit chain migration.

About 700,000 young immigrants signed up for Obama’s DACA protections.

An Associated Press analysis of the 2016 election found that Republicans picked up as many as 22 additional seats because of gerrymandering, while a Brennan Center for Justice study found gerrymandering accounted for an additional 16 to 17 GOP seats. He touched on the immigration issue in a pair of morning tweets, blaming Democrats for “doing nothing about DACA”. John Kennedy, R-La., just after voting to reopen the federal government January 22. “We’re going to solve the problem”.

“These countries are not our friends”, Trump said, following a speaker who said that cocaine and heroin are coming into the country from Colombia and Peru via Mexico. He has proposed a 10- to 12-year track to citizenship for about 1.8 million younger immigrants who have DACA protection or are eligible for its guarantees. ‘Some people call it Dreamers, ‘ he said.

“Certainly some of the president’s proposals give me pause”, Graves added.

The third pillar called for an end to the visa lottery, which Trump called “a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit, or the safety of our people”.

Trump urged the Republicans to “pass immigration reform that protects our country, defends our borders and modernizes our immigration rules to serve the needs of American workers and of American families”.

“Any one provision depends on the acceptance of the others because the net result of all four components strikes a balance”, Cassidy said.

Besides tax cuts and the strong economy, Republicans said they have a not-so-secret weapon: House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who said the GOP tax bill would provide mere “crumbs” for many taxpayers.

“Crucially, our plan closes the awful loopholes exploited by criminals and terrorists to enter our country -and it finally ends the unsafe practice of “catch and release”, Trump said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said last month that he would open debate on an immigration bill if a bipartisan accord on addressing DACA were not reached by February 8.

Ryan and other Republicans said negotiators are making progress, and some Democrats agreed. But Graves also said deep cuts to the number of visas available to foreigners hoping to work in the US also could push people to find unlawful ways into the country.

When it comes to the president’s $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan, Fraley said it will make demands that states and local governments will have a hard time meeting.

Abraham sounded more hopeful.

He also committed to trips to Minnesota – where two Democratic senators are up for re-election this year – as well as California and South Dakota, three sources in the room said.

“Any deal that includes a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants must first include increased border security measures”, Abraham said. That’s right – not just legal status but the opportunity to become Americans.

Democrats have made March 5 a rallying point on immigration.

And wherever he can, he’s turned perfectly legal residents into deportable immigrants overnight.

The president also mentioned his immigration plan, which he encouraged the Senate to take up.

“No, Mr. President it’s worse than that”, said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

Thune said it was not yet clear what the Senate debate would look like or what sort of legislation it might proceed from. But that doesn’t mean Kennedy is optimistic about the Senate passing something. But since renewal requests typically take months to process, uncertainty remains, she said.