Trump demands Senators support hardline GOP proposal
Developments on Day 391 of the Trump Administration:
Trump: Pass All My Plan or I’ll Veto
Donald Trump issues an ultimatum on immigration as a bipartisan group of senators seek a way forward with legislation, before a March 5 deadline threatening deportation of almost 800,000 young undocumented “Dreamer” immigrants.
The “Common Sense Caucus” circulated a plan last week that would allocate $25 billion for the Wall with Mexico, but over the next decade rather than immediately as Trump is demanding. The bill also curbs the ability of immigrants to bring relatives to the US, but not to the extent sought by the Administration, and it does not eliminate the diversity visa lottery program.
The proposal is scheduled for a Senate vote on Thursday, as is a hardline GOP proposal that would fulfil Trump’s demands as well as punishing sanctuary cities for protecting immigrants from deportation. A second bipartisan initiative, significantly diluting Trump’s requirements, is also to be considered.
In a White House statement, Trump insisted that the hardline GOP plan, led by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley, must be adopted. He rejected any limited approach in return for a path to citizenship, over 10 to 12 years, for 1.8 million immigrants including the Dreamers:
[I am] asking all senators, in both parties, to support the Grassley bill and to oppose any legislation that fails to fulfill these four pillars — that includes opposing any short-term “Band-Aid” approach.
Democrats have maintained that they cannot accept the Grassley bill, but Senate and House GOP leaders are continuing to back the hardline approach. House Speaker Paul Ryan, assessing support for a House bill even tougher than Trump’s demands, said the White House plan “should be the framework through which we come together to find a solution”.
Congressional leaders tried to ease the pressure by signaled that ongoing court challenges may push back the March 5 deadline, when the Trump Administration is ending the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
