Group of senators to meet on Trump immigration plan

WASHINGTON — The coalition of senators that helped end the federal government shutdown will meet this week to consider President Donald Trump’s immigration proposal and make recommendations, Sen. Susan Collins said Sunday.

Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine who emerged as a leader of the bipartisan group of 26 senators, said the goal is to find a way to help undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and to tighten up security on the southern U.S. border as Trump is demanding.

“All of us realize that it’s going to take a compromise on this issue for us to get something done,” Collins said on CNN’S “State of the Union.” “I hope we can find a way forward.”

Trump’s immigration plan would offer protection from deportation and a path to citizenship for beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. In exchange, the White House wants $25 billion to build for a U.s.-mexico border wall, additional border and port security, and other immigration measures.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.VA., also on CNN, said the senators would meet Monday night to seek common ground, working off Trump’s template.

“The president’s laid out what he wants, that’s a good starting point,” Manchin said. “Let’s see if it’s something that we can agree on.”

Manchin and Collins said more border security is needed, but Collins said that doesn’t mean a physical wall across the entire southern border.