Gov hopes to save 16,000 Salvadorans
PRESIDENT TRUMP said he wants to pass a “bill of love” to help young immigrants whose protection from deportation he terminated — but only if it also includes his controversial border wall.
Trump sat down with more than two dozen lawmakers from both parties at the White House Tuesday and suggested an immigration deal could be done in two phases — first protections for young immigrants covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and border security, and then a more comprehensive overhaul of the immigration system.
But he insisted a deal for the Dreamers would have to include construction of a wall, which Democrats say they won’t accept, as well as scrapping the visa lottery program and ending “chain migration,” which allows immigrants to sponsor their family members to come to the United States.
“You need it,” Trump told reporters when asked if he would agree to a DACA deal without the wall.
“I’d love not to build the wall, but you need the wall,” he said. “If you don’t have the wall, you can’t have security.”
Trump in September ordered an end to the DACA program, which had given permission to stay and work in the country to some 800,000 immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children.
He gave Congress until March to pass legislation to restore the program in some form.
“We have something in common — we’d like to see this get done,” Trump said as he sat down with senators and House members Tuesday. “I hope we’re going to come up with an answer for DACA.”
But Democrats are unlikely to agree to Trump’s demands on the wall and visa lottery. The lottery is a random selection of people applying to come to the U.S. from countries with low rates of immigration here, but Trump said it allows other countries to “give you the people they don’t want.”
Trump’s wall stance appeared to crumble at one point during the meeting.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, asked Trump if he would support a “clean” DACA bill — meaning one without any strings attached — with a commitment to pursue a comprehensive immigration overhaul later.
“I would like it,” Trump responded. “I think a lot of people would like to see that but I think we have to do DACA first.”
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) interjected, saying, “Mr. President, you need to be clear though,” that legislation involving the so-called Dreamers would need to include border security. Trump agreed, and took to Twitter later in the day to double ALBANY — More than 16,000 Salvadorans living in New York could be facing deportation under President Trump’s latest “disgraceful and unjust” immigration order, Gov. Cuomo said Tuesday.
Cuomo on Tuesday said he directed state officials to increase outreach and communication to residents and communities impacted by the order to ensure they’re aware of their rights and legal options.
Currently, he said, there are 114,127 Salvadorans living in New York, including 16,200 who received federal temporary protected status.
Trump on Monday ordered the end of the protected status for more than 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants nationally who came to America in 2001 after a major earthquake hit their country.
Under the order, Salvadorans face deportation unless they voluntarily leave the country by Sept. 9, 2019, or Congress steps in to allow them stay.
The Trump administration had previously moved to end protected status for those from Haiti and Nicaragua.
Cuomo directed the state Office for New Americans and the Liberty Defense Project, a publicprivate partnership that offers legal assistance to legal and undocumented immigrants, to engage those hit by Trump’s order.
He said anyone affected can contact the New Americans hotline between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday at (800) 566-7636