Hopes for DACA deal dimming as government shutdown nears
WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers held out hope that a deal can be reached allowing young undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S., despite President Donald Trump saying the effort is “probably dead” amid growing tensions about keeping the government funded past Friday.
Trump told reporters on his way to a dinner Sunday evening that “I don’t know if there is going to be a shutdown” at the end of the week.
Heading to dinner at his Palm Beach, Fla., golf club with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Trump said that on immigration “we have a lot of sticking points but they are all Democrat sticking points,” adding, “They don’t want security at the border.”
Trump escalated his rhetoric on immigration in a pair of early-morning Sunday Twitter messages that appeared to move further away from what just a few days ago seemed to be a potential deal with Democrats and moderate Republicans on legislation to continue the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
“DACA is probably dead because the Democrats don’t really want it, they just want to talk and take desperately needed money away from our Military,” Trump tweeted.
“I, as President, want people coming into our Country who are going to help us become strong and great again, people coming in through a system based on MERIT. No more Lotteries!” Trump said. His comments followed four tweets on the same topic on Saturday.
The immigration debate involving young undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children and Trump’s demand for funding to build a wall on the southern U.S. border is playing out days before a potential government shutdown as soon as the end of this week. Democrats are demanding that deportation protections for 800,000 young immigrants be included in any extension of government spending, with a Jan. 19 shutdown deadline looming.
Shortly after Trump’s tweets, he was contradicted by key Senate Republicans and even his own Homeland Security Secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, who said on “Fox News Sunday” that there’s still hope for a solution if Democrats would agree to close immigration loopholes.
“I do not believe DACA is dead,” Nielsen said. She said the Trump administration and congressional Republicans want “a security-immigration deal.” She also said it would be “completely irresponsible” for Democrats to demand that a deal be tied to keeping the government funded.
Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., also expressed optimism on ABC’s “This Week” about finding a fix for DACA, but only if “the Democrats get serious about negotiating” on securing U.S. borders and family reunification or “chain migration.”
Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, also a Republican, said senators from both parties support a proposed compromise on legislation that he has helped write.
“We’re working now to add more Republicans to that list, and we will have more this coming week,” Flake said on ABC. He said his bill was the only way to get the 60 votes required for passage in the Senate.
Flake also rejected the president’s claim that “Democrats don’t really want” a deal. “I’ve been negotiating and working with the Democrats on immigration for 17 years,” he said. “The Democrats are negotiating in good faith.”
Less than a week ago Trump said during a televised, bipartisan meeting with lawmakers that he wanted a “bill of love” on immigration. He appeared to endorse a “clean DACA” bill sought by Democrats.
Since then, a hard-right flank of the Republican Party, led by Cotton, pulled the president back from the center.