It’s ‘useless’ negotiating with Trump
WASHINGTON: A long-time Democratic politician thinks negotiating with US President Donald Trump on immigration policy is “fanciful thinking” in the wake of the hard-line conservative proposals he announced on Sunday.
And after reviewing what Trump proposed, Representative Luis Gutierrez, Ill, had a message for fellow Democrats: I told you so.
The White House released a list of proposals that include the funding of a wall along the US-Mexico border, a crackdown on the influx of Central American minors and curbs on federal grants to “sanctuary cities”, according to a document distributed to politicians.
Trump announced plans last month to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) programme, an Obama-era programme that had provided two-year work permits that Trump called “unconstitutional”. In response, Gutierrez has been pushing with other Democrats for a quick up-or-down vote on legislation that would permanently provide legal status for those protected by the programme, known as “dreamers”.
He raised doubts last month about a deal to protect Daca recipients reached between Trump, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democrat, California.
“I warned Democrats not to negotiate, to say that what we wanted was a clean Dream Act,” Gutierrez said. “It’s a slippery slope – I never understood why everybody wanted to sit down and negotiate. I’ve been there 20 years and this is the same negotiation we’ve had for the past 20 years… (Trump) has never wavered from his xenophobic positions…
“It’s an extension of the white supremacist agenda – what they want to do is criminalise and delegitimise Latinos.”
In a joint statement on Sunday, Schumer and Pelosi said the Trump administration “can’t be serious about compromise or helping the Dreamers if they begin with a list that is anathema to the Dreamers, to the immigrant community and to the vast majority of Americans”.
“This proposal fails to represent any attempt at compromise… if the president was serious about protecting the Dreamers, his staff has not made a good-faith effort to do so.”
Gutierrez renewed calls for Democrats to withhold support for upcoming legislation that would raise the federal debt limit and set government spending levels. A vote is scheduled for December 9.
That date, he said, “is going to be a moment of definition” for Democrats. “If we approve a budget, which doesn’t include the Dream Act, then we’ve turned our back on our immigrant community and our principles. There’s a debt ceiling vote coming up, there’s a budget vote coming up – I’m not saying we should shut down the government, but if you want a budget with Democratic votes, then it has to have some Democratic priorities.”