{"id":58864,"date":"2018-02-15T05:19:34","date_gmt":"2018-02-15T05:19:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=58864"},"modified":"2018-02-15T05:19:34","modified_gmt":"2018-02-15T05:19:34","slug":"senators-strike-bipartisan-deal-on-immigration-despite-veto-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/senators-strike-bipartisan-deal-on-immigration-despite-veto-threat.html","title":{"rendered":"Senators Strike Bipartisan Deal on Immigration Despite Veto Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senators Strike Bipartisan Deal on Immigration Despite Veto Threat<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

A broad bipartisan group of senators reached agreement Wednesday on a narrow rewrite of the nation\u2019s immigration laws that would bolster border security and resolve the fate of the so-called Dreamers, even as President Trump suggested he would veto any plan that does not adhere to his harder-line approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their compromise legislation sets up a clash pitting the political center of the Senate against Mr. Trump and the Republican congressional leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senators in both parties have been racing against a self-imposed end-of-the-week deadline to write legislation that could win wide support by increasing border security while at the same time offering a path to citizenship for young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.<\/span><\/p>\n

Members of the bipartisan group, which calls itself the Common Sense Coalition, said their deal does just that. They were working Wednesday evening to determine whether their bill could garner the 60 votes necessary to break a filibuster.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe president\u2019s going to have a vote on his concept. I don\u2019t think it will get 60 votes,\u201d said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and a member of the group, adding: \u201cThe bottom line then is: What do you do next? You can do what we\u2019ve done for the last 35 years \u2014 blame each other. Or you can actually start fixing the broken immigration system. If you came out of this with strong border security \u2014 the president getting his wall and the Dream Act population being taken care of \u2014 most Americans would applaud.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The bipartisan measure, sponsored by eight Democrats, eight Republicans and one independent, would appropriate $25 billion for border security, including construction of the president\u2019s proposed wall at the Mexican border, over a 10-year period \u2014 not immediately, as Mr. Trump demands.<\/span><\/p>\n

It would also offer an eventual path to citizenship, over 10 to 12 years, for 1.8 million of the young undocumented immigrants, but would preclude them from sponsoring their parents to become citizens. It would make no changes to the diversity visa lottery system, which Mr. Trump wants to end.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in a morning statement, Mr. Trump urged senators to oppose any bill that did not also embrace the \u201cfour pillars\u201d of his immigration approach, which includes a rewrite of the nation\u2019s immigration laws that would close the country\u2019s borders to many immigrants trying to come to the United States legally.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am asking all senators, in both parties, to support the Grassley bill and to oppose any legislation that fails to fulfill these four pillars,\u201d Mr. Trump said in the statement, referring to the chief sponsor of the measure, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Grassley bill would provide a path to citizenship for 1.8 million young immigrants, end the visa lottery program, build a border wall and severely limit what he calls \u201cchain migration,\u201d which is family-based immigration. It would also increase the use of radar and tower-based surveillance, sensors and drones mostly along the Southwest border, increase the number of border patrol officers and deploy the National Guard to help construct border fencing and operate some of the surveillance equipment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Grassley said that in offering the young immigrants, known as Dreamers, a chance to become citizens, Mr. Trump had been \u201cmuch more compassionate on a compromise than anybody thought.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Limiting family-based immigration \u2014 which Democrats call \u201cfamily reunification\u201d \u2014 and ending the diversity visa lottery are anathema to Democrats. But it was unclear how many Democrats would sign on to the compromise as an alternative.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senate Democrats met in a closed-door session to talk about the coalition\u2019s plan, and lawmakers emerged saying that some of their colleagues, who favor improvements in border security but have been deeply opposed to building a wall, had reservations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know that people want to get some certainty for these kids,\u201d said Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Democrat of North Dakota. She said she would support the Common Sense measure, but added, \u201cWe\u2019re being asked to make some tough compromises.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s decision to weigh in forcefully called into question whether any compromise legislation would be dead on arrival at the president\u2019s desk. His statement came as the Senate was just beginning to debate immigration using a novel approach in which lawmakers are trying to build a bill from scratch on the floor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not helpful at all,\u2019\u2019 said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. \u201cAll he does is create a crisis and can\u2019t help us solve it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the statement, Mr. Trump said that the \u201coverwhelming majority of American voters support a plan that fulfills the framework\u2019s four pillars, which move us towards the safe, modern and lawful immigration system our people deserve.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that he would oppose a short-term \u201cBand-Aid\u201d approach to immigration that some lawmakers have been discussing, which would protect Dreamers for a few years in exchange for a small increase in border security spending \u2014 essentially kicking the issue down the road.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, responded harshly to the president\u2019s remarks, noting with dismay that Mr. Trump in September ordered an end to the Obama-era program known as DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which protected the Dreamers from deportation and provided them work permits.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe American people know what\u2019s going on,\u201d Mr. Schumer said on the Senate floor. \u201cThey know this president not only created the problem, but seems to be against every solution that might pass because it isn\u2019t 100 percent of what he wants. If, at the end of the week, we are unable to find a bill that can pass \u2014 and I sincerely hope that\u2019s not the case due to the good efforts of so many people on both sides of the aisle \u2014 the responsibility will fall entirely on the president\u2019s shoulders and those in this body who went along with him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s statement was a victory for conservatives in his administration, including Stephen Miller, his top domestic policy adviser, who have been pushing the president to demand an overhaul of the nation\u2019s immigration rules in exchange for his support of a permanent solution for the Dreamers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several senior White House advisers told reporters on Wednesday that Mr. Trump would not relent in backing his hard-line immigration principles and said Dreamers should blame Democrats if legislation did not pass.<\/span><\/p>\n

One senior adviser, who requested anonymity to discuss legislative strategy, said the president had made \u201cdramatic concessions\u201d by agreeing to a path to citizenship for 1.8 million young immigrants. Another made it clear that Mr. Trump would not compromise any further.<\/span><\/p>\n

That position was underscored on Wednesday by a statement from the Department of Homeland Security that slammed a competing immigration measure being offered by Senators John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware.<\/span><\/p>\n

That bipartisan bill would call for more border security, but would not directly finance construction of a border wall that Mr. Trump has promised. The bill would offer a way for Dreamers to become legal; the homeland security statement described it as a \u201cmass legalization\u201d measure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe McCain-Coons proposal would increase illegal immigration, surge chain migration, continue catch-and-release and give a pathway to citizenship to convicted alien felons,\u201d the statement said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The top Republicans in both the House and Senate praised the statements from the administration on Wednesday, describing them as a lift for the approach that many of their more conservative members support.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe president has made clear what principles must be addressed if we are going to make a law instead of merely making political points,\u201d Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said Wednesday morning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin echoed that sentiment, saying that \u201cthe president did a very good job of putting a very sincere offer on the table. And that sincere offer that he put on the table should be the framework through which we come together to find a solution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While the president\u2019s support of Mr. Grassley\u2019s bill is not surprising, his vague promise not to support other bills is notable, as Mr. Trump told lawmakers last month that he would sign any immigration bill that Congress sends him. Republican leaders have said Congress should only pass legislation that Mr. Trump would sign, but how flexible the president would be was a crucial question for lawmakers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked about Mr. Trump\u2019s veto threat, Mr. Graham said: \u201cWell, then, we won\u2019t go very far. Then you\u2019ll have three presidents who failed. You\u2019ll have Obama, Bush and Trump.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/14\/us\/politics\/trump-immigration-veto-threat.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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