Trump Sends Immigration Demands to Congress – Democrats Charge Deal Will Derail DACA Efforts

White House Wants No Path to Citizenship for Dreamers – Majority of Nation, Including Republican Voters, Do

Speaking with reporters Sunday, senior Trump administration officials spelled out a list of hard-line policy demands on immigration issues, which appear to seriously impair striking a deal with Congressional Democrats over the future of hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants known as ‘Dreamers.’

“The priority for Congress ought to be to save American lives, protect American jobs and improve the well-being of American communities. These reforms accomplish that,” an administration official said Sunday night. “They live up to the president’s campaign commitment to have an immigration system that puts the needs of hardworking Americans first.”    

Additionally, administration officials noted the White House has no interest in providing citizenship to DACA beneficiaries, even though the main proposals for Dreamers on Capitol Hill would allow a pathway to citizenship. This would be a deal killer according to a Congressional source.

According to Politco, in his letter to Congress, the president said these policy priorities “must be included as part of any legislation addressing” DACA because without the changes, “illegal immigration and chain migration, which severely and unfairly burden American workers and taxpayers, will continue without end.” Politico also noted two White House officials said the administration sees its immigration principles as an opening bid for an eventual DACA deal that may look dramatically different from the demands laid out Sunday evening. 

Trump reportedly was not deeply involved in writing the policy priorities – they were crafted by domestic policy adviser Stephen Miller.

The principles also include an overhaul of the asylum system, including tougher penalties for asylum fraud, and speedier deportations for unaccompanied minors who arrive at the border. Current laws allow unaccompanied migrant children from countries other than Canada or Mexico to stay in the United States, usually with a sponsor, until they can get a hearing in immigration court. That process can take years.

The administration is also calling for cutting off key federal grants for sanctuary cities, empowering state and local governments to enforce immigration law and requiring employers to use E-Verify, a workplace verification system that checks whether an employee can work legally in the United States. Such policies that beef up interior enforcement are deal-breakers for Democrats and had been ruled out at Trump’s dinner with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), according to Democrats.

As the administration laid out its policy requirements over the weekend, according to journalist Andrew Joyce, undocumented activists vowed to sends hundreds of thousands of young people to ‘shut down’ Washington if lawmakers cannot come up with a proposal to protect young undocumented people without punishing the rest of the immigrant community.

“We believe that in the next six months we could do a mobilization … where we could flood D.C. with hundreds of thousands of young people who will shut it down, both by numbers, and by massive civil disobedience,” said undocumented organizer Thaís Marques, who announced the new project during a gathering of immigrant rights activists in Brooklyn, New York.

Though the debate in Washington centers around whether to fight for a “clean” DREAM Act, Joyce notes, the conversation among undocumented activists has focused on a broader, perhaps more existential question — should DACA recipients continue to allow politicians to focus on their protection while ignoring the plight the rest of the 11 million undocumented people living in the United States. 

82 percent of U.S. voters, including 69 percent of Republicans, want Dreamers to be able to stay in the country and apply for citizenship, a Quinnipiac poll found late last month.

Brody Levesque is the Chief Political Correspondent for The New Civil Rights Movement.
You may contact Brody at Brody.Levesque@thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

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