GOP leaders seek compromise on immigration
daughter, Ivanka, told him the situation with families at the border looks bad, one law-maker said.
“He said, ‘Politically, this is bad,’ “said Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas. “It’s not about the politics, this is the right thing todo.”
But Mr. Trump touched on many topics, including Mr. Trump’s historic visit to North Korea. And he took a jab at Rep. Mark Sanford, congratulating the South Carolina Republican on his recent campaign, according to those granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting. Mr. Sanford, a frequent Trump critic, lost his GOP primary after Mr. Trump tweeted against him.
As Mr. Trump walked out of the closed-door meeting in the Capitol basement, he was confronted by about a halfdozen House Democrats, who yelled, “Stop separating our families!”
In the House, GOP leaders scrambled Tuesday to produce a revised version of the broader immigration bill that would keep children in detention longer than now permitted.
The major change unveiled Tuesday would loosen rules that now limit the amount of time minors can be held to 20 days, according to a GOP source familiar with the measure. Instead, the children could be detained indefinitely with their parents.
The revision would also give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to use $7 billion in border technology funding to pay for family detention centers, said the person, who was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and commented only on condition of anonymity.
In the Senate, meanwhile, Republicans are rallying behind a different approach. Theirs is narrow legislation proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that would allow detained families to stay together in custody while expediting their deportation proceedings.
Mr. Cruz’s bill would double the number of federal immigration judges, authorize new temporary shelters to house migrant families and limit the processing of asylum cases to no more than 14 days —a goal immigrant advocates say would be difficult to meet.
“While cases are pending, families should stay together,” tweeted Mr. Cruz, who is in an unexpectedly tough re-election battle.
The second-ranking Senate Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, said they’re proposing a “humane, safe and secure family facility” where parents and minor children could be detained together.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters he’s reaching out to Democrats for bipartisan backing, since the proposal would need to reach a 60-vote threshold to advance in that chamber. He also announced that all 50 currently present Republican members of the Senate would support something like the Cornyn and Cruz plans. “This requires a solution,” Mr. McConnell said, “a narrow agreement to fix a problem that we all agree needs to be fixed.”
But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York signaled that no Democratic support would be coming, saying it’s already in Mr. Trump’s power to keep the families together.
“There’s no need for legislation. There’s no need for anything else. You can do it. Mr. President, you started it, you can stop it.”
However, Mr. Trump, who has been watching the coverage play out on television with increasing anger, has told confidants he believes the news media are deliberately highlighting the worst images — like the cages and screaming toddlers — to make him look bad.
To combat worries that he looks “soft” on immigration, Mr. Trump unleashed a series of tweets in which he played up the dangers posed by the high-profile MS-13 gangs, which make up a minuscule percentage of those who have crossed the border. He used the word “infest” to describe migrants coming to the U.S. illegally.
At an earlier event Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he was asking Congress for “the legal authority to detain and promptly remove families together as a unit.” He said it was “the only solution to the border crisis.”
Mr.Trump’s meeting at the Capitol came as lawmakers in both parties were up in arms after days of news reports with images of children confined in large wire cages and an audio recording of a young child pleading for his “Papa.”
The issue boiled over Tuesday at a House hearing on an unrelated subject, when protesters with babies briefly shutdown proceedings.
Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, pleaded with Republicans on the panel “to stand up to President Donald Trump.”
Under the administration’s current policy, all unlawful crossings are referred for prosecution — a process that moves adults to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and sends many children to facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the Obama administration, such families were usually referred for civil deportation proceedings, not requiring separation.
More than 2,300 minors were separated from their families at the border from May 5 through June 9, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The national outcry has roiled midterm election campaigns, emboldening Democrats while putting Republican son the defensive.
Top conservatives, including key Trump allies, have introduced bills to keep the migrant families together. Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, a leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said his measure “becomes a backup proposal” if others fail.
The House is to vote later this week on two bills that address broader immigration issues to protect young immigrant “Dreamers,” who have been living in the U.S. illegally since childhood, from deportation and fund Mr. Trump’s border wall.
But outlook for passage is dim. One conservative measure is expected to fail. And it’s unclear if Mr. Trump’s backing with help the compromise legislation that GOP leaders negotiated with moderate Republicans. Rep. Steve Scalise of Lousiana, the GOP whip, told reporters he thought it had enough support to pass. Votes are expected Thursday.
The White House, after saying it would accept only a comprehensive fix, reversed course Tuesday and said it was reviewing the Cruz bill.
Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the House Freedom Caucus, says he doesn’t like compromise bill “because it’s all compromising in one direction.”
Mr. Perry was not at the meeting with Mr. Trump, but said he doubts the president’s words will affect his position.
“Well, good for him, but he’s not running for Congress.”