Trump lashes out at court over immigration ruling
President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the federal court that temporarily blocked his administration from ending a program protecting nearly 800,000 young immigrants from deportation. His twitter attack came as lawmakers planned talks on extending those protections.
Bipartisan bargainers fresh off a White House meeting with the president Tuesday said they hoped to parlay that session into momentum for resolving the politically blistering issue.
But Trump lobbed a new salvo Wednesday after U.S. District Judge William Alsup late Tuesday granted a request by California and other plaintiffs to prevent Trump from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program while their lawsuits play out in court.
“It just shows everyone how broken and unfair” the court system is, Trump tweeted, when those opposed to his policies “almost always” win in the federal court district that includes that court.
It’s not clear what effect the ruling might have on the talks on Capitol Hill. The judge said lawyers in favour of DACA clearly demonstrated that the young immigrants “were likely to suffer serious, irreparable harm” without court action.
Facing a Jan. 19 deadline for averting an election-year government shutdown, lawmakers are seeking a formula for reviving protections against deportation that Trump has ended for nearly the young immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children and are now living here illegally. In exchange, Trump and Republicans want toughened border protections and tightened restrictions on others trying to migrate to this country.
“I’ll take all the heat you want,” Trump told nearly two dozen lawmakers Tuesday at the White House for a meeting that began with a startling 55 minutes in which reporters and TV cameras watched. “But you are not that far away from comprehensive immigration reform.”
Trump said an immigration deal could be reached in two phases — first by addressing young immigrants and border security with what he called a “bill of love,” then by making comprehensive changes that have long eluded Congress. That second bill would likely face long odds for passage, considering long-running disagreements over issues like how to handle all 11 million immigrants illegally in the U.S.
Republicans will need Democratic votes to prevent a federal shutdown in 10 days, votes Democrats have threatened to withhold without an immigration agreement. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters talks would begin as early as Wednesday, adding, “And we’ll solve this problem and find common ground.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that the federal judge’s ruling was “outrageous, especially in light of the President’s successful bipartisan meeting with House and Senate members at the White House on the same day.”
She said the issue should “go through the normal legislative process” and pledged Trump “will work with members of both parties to reach a permanent solution.”