New York Times
By Laura Meckler and Kristina Peterson
January 10, 2018
President Donald Trump said he was optimistic that an immigration deal could soon be reached on “Dreamers” and agreed with lawmakers to limit talks to four policy areas during a bipartisan meeting Tuesday at the White House.
Over nearly an hour, Mr. Trump offered various formulations for what an agreement might look like during rare negotiations in full view of reporters and television viewers. He suggested Congress could protect the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers and improve border security, while putting other contentious issues off for later. At other times, he said some of his additional conservative priorities must be included.
Throughout the conversation, Mr. Trump insisted that the border-security part of a legislative package include his controversial wall with Mexico, which Democrats and some Republicans oppose.
Lawmakers said afterward that they were confused during the public session about what parameters the president favored for the talks. But then, in private after the reporters left the room, the group agreed that negotiations would include four things: new limits on family-based immigration and the diversity visa lottery that admits immigrants from underrepresented countries, in addition to help for the Dreamers and border security, according to the White House and members of both parties.
“I really do believe Democratic and Republican, the people sitting around this table, want to get something done,” Mr. Trump said, with Democrats seated on either side of him. “And I think we’re on our way to do it.”
In September, Mr. Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, asking Congress to intervene with a legislative fix. Under that plan, starting March 5, large numbers of Dreamers, who were brought to the U.S. as children, would lose their protections. But in a court ruling late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup temporarily blocked the ending of the DACA programming.
The White House meeting included nearly two dozen lawmakers with a wide range of views on immigration, but with the clock ticking toward the expiration of the Dreamers’ protections, remarks from members of both parties suggested an agreement was possible. None was announced, though lawmakers said they would meet again Wednesday.
One of the toughest issues to resolve involves the elements of a border security package. At the meeting, Mr. Trump repeated his desire for funding for a border wall. When Sen. Mazie Hirono (D., Hawaii) objected to his price tag, Mr. Trump suggested he could build it for less than the $18 billion his administration estimated.
“To spend billions of dollars on something that won’t work would be stupid and bizarre,” Ms. Hirono said after the meeting.
The proposals to limit “chain immigration,” which allows U.S. citizens to sponsor relatives abroad to come to America, and to curtail the diversity visa program are also controversial, said Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R., Fla.), who has pushed for Dreamer protections.
“That’s where some House Republicans can get overly ambitious and where they risk not just losing Democrats, but other, more centrist House Republicans,” he said. “So that’s probably going to be the most difficult part to figure out.”
Throughout the public portion of the meeting, the president suggested agreement was close at hand. When some lawmakers made clear that Mr. Trump’s support was key to a final deal, he replied: “When this group comes back with an agreement, I’m signing it.”
At one point, Mr. Trump appeared to agree with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), who suggested that Congress pass a “clean” DACA bill, meaning Dreamer protections and nothing else. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) then jumped in to say that Mr. Trump should insist on other elements, and Mr. Trump agreed with that.
Mr. Trump also suggested at the meeting that Congress might undertake an even bigger immigration bill. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) noted that he had long worked on a comprehensive immigration overhaul package and taken considerable political criticism from opponents for doing so. Mr. Trump replied, “If you want to take it that further step, I’ll take all the heat.”
Many Republicans have opposed comprehensive bills because they have included a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally, not just the Dreamers. But Mr. Trump has periodically suggested he is interested in trying again. During the meeting, he described this as a second phase of talks that could begin the day after a Dreamer law is signed.
Democrats attending the meeting pressed the urgency of the DACA matter. In early March, large numbers of young people will begin losing their DACA protections and be unable to live or work legally in the U.S., and would be subject to deportation. Already, advocates estimate that more than 100 people a day are losing this status because they didn’t renew their DACA permits before the deadline set.
“We have a deadline looming and a lot of lives hanging,” said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), the Democrats’ lead negotiator. He said that his party would back some elements of border security but suggested other elements shouldn’t be included.
Reaching an immigration pact is key to unlocking a broader agreement on Capitol Hill on a slew of issues, including federal spending levels, disaster aid and a children’s health insurance program. Democrats and Republicans have yet to strike a two-year budget agreement that has eluded them for months, largely because Democrats want to use their leverage on spending bills to seek protections for Dreamers.
The government’s current funding expires at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 20, and Congress will likely need to pass a short-term extension to avoid a partial government shutdown. Democrats, whose votes will be needed in the Senate and potentially in the House, could balk if the immigration talks derail. If they are resolved, most lawmakers expect a budget deal to arrive soon after.
The administration, as recently as this week, has suggested the DACA legislation might include a long list of other immigration priorities sought by conservatives. Narrowing the talks to four areas—DACA, border security, the visa lottery and family immigration—was a step toward the Democrats from that recent position.
A new document from the Department of Homeland Security circulating on Capitol Hill lists nearly three dozen additional policy changes as “must haves,” including changes to the asylum system, a new merit-based legal immigration system, new penalties for staying past visa expiration and punishments for local jurisdictions, or “sanctuary cities,” that don’t cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.
Those demands have raised expectations among some of Mr. Trump’s most loyal backers who favor an immigration clampdown.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies, said the White House demands, such as those outlined on the DHS list, are so significant that he doesn’t think any deal will be reached because Democrats won’t accept them. He added that legislation limited to border security and Dreamer protections would be “unacceptable” to him and other immigration hardliners.
“He would be betraying his base,” he said.
In the House, conservatives are preparing to introduce their own version of legislation that would combine a range of tough immigration enforcement with some sort of DACA protections, lawmakers said Tuesday.
That group includes House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.), who was at the White House meeting. He said his legislation would also include enforcement measures aimed at people already living in the U.S. illegally, among other things.
But Rep. Charlie Dent (R., Pa.) cautioned that any bill is going to need Democratic votes. Bills need a majority, typically 218 votes, to pass the House, but many Republicans are expected to vote no to any Dreamer protections. “It’s just absurd that we’ll indulge all these folks and this fanciful notion that we’ll somehow pass a DACA bill with 218 Republican votes. And unicorns fly,” he said.
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