Immigration wish list takes hard line
young undocumented immigrants known as “DREAMers” had been encouraged by the prospect of a breakthrough on Capitol Hill — since even Republicans floated bills that would protect them from deportation.
That momentum appeared to collapse this weekend when the White House — along with the Departments of Justice, Commerce and Homeland Security — called for 18 different policy proposals to limit both legal and illegal immigration.
That wish list closely mirrors the tough immigration platform Trump trumpeted on the campaign trail. It calls for more immigration agents to arrest undocumented immigrants and more immigration judges to deport them. It calls for an expansion of the southern border wall to keep undocumented immigrants out of the country and an overhaul of the legal immigration system to limit the number of visas and green cards granted each year.
Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, a group that advocates for lower levels of legal and illegal immigration, said the list of proposals “is certain to reassure and even thrill” his members.
Trump himself did not comment on the list of immigration demands — and the White House may see them as a starting point for negotiations that could stretch out for months.
Yet ever since Trump spoke publicly about a deal after dinner with Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Charles Schumer, the House and Senate minority leaders, his aides have driven a hard bargain. Prominent adviser Stephen Miller, a longtime critic of U.S. immigration policies, has led the charge on Capitol Hill.
Since assuming office, the Trump administration has:
Announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, an Obama-era program that protected nearly 800,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation.
Issued directives to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents that vastly expand the pool of the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants that can be arrested.
Redirected more than 100 new immigration judges to more quickly process deportation cases, leading to a 21% increase in cases closed, according to Justice.
Threatened to withhold federal funding from “sanctuary cities” that do not fully comply with requests from federal immigration officials.
Ended a hotline created by the Obama administration to help undocumented immigrants and replaced it with a hotline for victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants.
Given that backdrop, immigration advocates are left where they started when Trump assumed office — unsure of where he stands.
“It would be foolhardy for us to depend on a chemically imbalanced president to gain victory,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, a group that advocates for immigrants.
Instead, Sharry and other advocates place their faith in Congress. Before a deadline in December on a funding bill, they hope that a coalition of Democrats pushing hard for a DREAM Act, mixed with enough Republicans who want to protect immigrants, will be enough to craft a reasonable compromise.
Then it will be up to Trump to decide whether to embrace that kind of deal.
“Does he want the narcissistic high of a bipartisan deal followed by good headlines and a polling bump, or does he want the narcissistic high of going to campaign rallies where he says he stood up to the Democrats and declared his reconstructed nativism once again?” Sharry said.
Given his vacillation on the issue, which will it be?
“God knows,” Sharry said.