Tuesday, January 16, 2018

DACA negotiations & government shutdown

Yet again, following Trump's "shithole countries" comment, it appears the government will soon shut down:

"As Shutdown Talk Rises, Trump’s Immigration Words Pose Risks for Both Parties"

"WASHINGTON — President Trump’s incendiary words about immigration have dampened the prospects that a broad spending and immigration deal can be reached by the end of the week, raising the possibility of a government shutdown with unknown political consequences for lawmakers in both parties."

The fact the government is headed for a shutdown is unbelievable, especially because Trump had said he'd support a bipartisan deal. & for a moment, it seemed republican senator Graham & democratic senator Durbin had actually reached a bipartisan deal on DACA:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/11/dreamers-deal-reached-but-trump-has-yet-to-sign-off-336501

"The package negotiated by the senators includes $2.7 billion for border security, which includes Trump's $1.6 billion request for wall planning and construction, as well as $1.1 billion for security infrastructure and technology, three sources directly familiar with the negotiations confirmed to POLITICO.

The legislation would also include a 12-year pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, although people who have already been approved for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program would have effectively a 10-year path because they would get two years of credit for holding DACA permits, sources said.
The plan would also delay green card holders from being able to sponsor their adult children until they obtain citizenship, according to three sources. That's a population of about 26,000 people who would have to wait longer until they could be sponsored for permanent residency, one of the people said."


I don't agree with $1.6 billion for a wall when that money can just be added to the technology budget for modern security like drones, cameras, radars, etc. In addition, the changes to immigration policy will be detrimental to people who are already waiting for legalization & who plan on legalizing their family. It really does appear republicans want to drive a wedge between current legal residents & dreamers. 
Even so, despite the heavy cost of approving DACA, democrats were willing to hesitantly cut a deal. 

However, it seems Trump just doesn't want to approve DACA at all, thus he's making all kinds of excuses. However, it'd be a risky move by Trump. Because blaming the democrats for a shutdown will seem ridiculous when you take into account republicans control the presidency, the senate, and the house of representatives.

No comments:

Post a Comment