The art of the deal
For the first time in decades there seems to be the possibility of real immigration reform — and a way to deal with the more than 800,000 “Dreamers” now contributing to the U.S. economy.
Sure a federal judge has temporarily blocked an end to the program that protects this group of young people from deportation. But make no mistake, that only provides a bit of breathing room for Congress to reach a bipartisan solution to the issue of what happens to those young people who were brought here illegally through no fault of their own.
President Trump, who fancies himself the ultimate deal-maker, got things moving Tuesday, calling together leaders from both parties. With the cameras rolling no less, he began to tackle an issue that the past four presidents have not been able to resolve.
Of course, Trump’s usual shoot-from-the-lip manner led to the usual amount of confusion over what exactly he would agree to.
When U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) asked if he would support “a clean DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] bill,” the president replied, “Yeah, I would like — I would like to do that.”
That caused U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to jump in to “clarify” things before Trump gave away the store:
“I think what Senator Feinstein is asking here: When we talk about just DACA, we don’t want to be back here two years later. We have to have security, as the Secretary would tell you.”
So the usual White House layer of confusion aside, the path forward is clear: a path to citizenship for the Dreamers and something that will add to border security — that may or may not look like a wall. Frankly since a large number of illegal immigrants enter under perfectly legal visas and simply overstay their welcome, reform of that system would be a far more fruitful avenue to pursue.
If Congress can get that first deal done, it could then move on to tackle the thornier issues of ending chain migration and moving to a merit-based system.
For the first time in many years there is a sense that a deal on immigration is actually possible. Right now at least 800,000 young people are counting on that.