Dems craft offer to Trump
They propose $5 billion but no border barrier
“The letter is going to articulate what we believe is effective investment to accomplish border security.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
WASHINGTON – House Democratic leaders worked on a letter to President Donald Trump that would propose $5 billion in border security if he agrees to reopen the government, but Trump warned Wednesday that the partial government shutdown could drag on for a while.
The Democrats’ proposal does not include money for any “new structures” along the southern border as the president demanded, so it is unlikely to move as is. It is still significant because it’s the first time Democratic leaders will broadly lay out what they might accept in a compromise to end the government shutdown, which has gone on more than a month.
“It’s a starting point. You know, I think we all want border security. There is no question about it,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. “It’s just that some of the things that are being pursued in the name of border security we disagree with.”
Thompson said he was involved in drafting the letter, which he expected to come from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
“No new structures. The only thing we are talking about is existing structures, along with the judges and some other things,” Thompson said. He said there would be money for “some new” Customs and Border Protection agents and to bolster ports of entry.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said, “We are prepared to spend a very substantial sum of money because we share the view that borders need to be secure.”
The letter “is not a negotiation,” Hoyer said. “The letter is going to articulate what we believe is effective investment to accomplish border security.”
Thompson said protections for “Dreamers,” undocumented immigrants who came to the USA as children, are not included.
At the White House, Trump said Wednesday the government shutdown could drag on because of the dispute over border security and his proposed border wall.
Democrats “don’t want to see crime stopped, which we could very easily do on the southern border. ... This will go on for a while,” he said.
Saturday, Trump offered a proposal that would include temporary protections for Dreamers as well as refugees who had been given Temporary Protected Status in the USA in exchange for $5.7 billion for his wall along the southern border. The proposal would make it harder for minors from Central America to seek asylum, an idea Democrats oppose.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., scheduled a vote to begin debate on the president’s proposal Thursday. If that fails to get 60 votes, a bill that would fund the remaining government agencies through Feb. 8 will be voted on. Trump said he would veto the measure. It is unclear whether either bill will make it through the Senate.
Tuesday, a letter began circulating from centrist Democrats calling on Pelosi to offer a vote on Trump’s border wall in exchange for his support to reopen the government. The wall is unlikely to pass the House.
“What we’re trying to say is we need to return to regular order, we need to open the government, we need to take these issues to committee, we need to analyze them in a facts-based way,” said Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va.