The Trump administration on Thursday released a framework for a compromise immigration deal to members of Congress. The plan calls for a pathway to citizenship for people brought to America illegally as children, increased spending for security on the U.S.-Mexico border, and new restrictions on America’s legal immigration system. But the mixed reaction from Capitol Hill suggests the president has a lot of work to do to convince enough lawmakers in the middle as well as on the right that his “compromise” is better than more immigration-meets-budget brinksmanship.
West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat, spoke for the unofficial swing-vote caucus when he told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday the White House proposal a “good starting point” and sounded a vague but optimistic note. “I think we can find a pathway forward; I really do,” Manchin said.
But on the extremes of the immigration debate, it was a different story. The Trump plan was immediately panned by most other Senate Democrats, with majority leader Chuck Schumer tweeting that it “flies in the face of what most Americans believe” and amounts to “the wish list that anti-immigration hardliners have advocated for for years.”
Maybe, but the “hardliners” on the president’s own side weren’t that pleased, either. Some conservative immigration hawks condemned the White House’s citizenship concessions as a mass amnesty. Steve King, a chief restrictionist in the House of Representatives, was characteristic.
The American People have a Right to enforcement of our laws & a Right to a sealed border. Illegals have No Right to be here & have ALL violated our laws. This #Amnesty deal negotiates away American Sovereignty.
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) January 26, 2018
Not all immigration hawks were cold to the plan. Senators David Perdue and Tom Cotton, who work closely with Trump on immigration issues, released statements praising the proposal, with Cotton calling it “generous and humane, while also being responsible.”
President Trump took to Twitter Saturday night to offer his own case for the package—and to denounce Democrats who “do not want to solve DACA, only use it!”
I have offered DACA a wonderful deal, including a doubling in the number of recipients & a twelve year pathway to citizenship, for two reasons: (1) Because the Republicans want to fix a long time terrible problem. (2) To show that Democrats do not want to solve DACA, only use it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2018
Democrats are not interested in Border Safety & Security or in the funding and rebuilding of our Military. They are only interested in Obstruction!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2018
Photo of the Day
President Donald Trump walks away after answering a reporter’s question as he returns to the White House January 26, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images)
Davos Wrap-Up—My colleague Andrew Egger on Trump’s Davos speech Friday morning:
President Trump plans to strike a tone of bipartisanship in his first State of the Union address Tuesday according to White House officials. Trump will talk about “building a safe, strong, and proud America” while also making a case for his immigration plan, released on Friday.
White House officials also said the address will also focus on jobs and the economy, infrastructure, trade, and national security.
“I think the president is going to talk about how America is back,” White House legislative affairs director Marc Short said on Fox News Sunday. “I think he’s going to talk about the fact that America is open for business. And the president is also going to make an appeal to Democrats . . . that to do infrastructure, we need to do it in a bipartisan way. And he will also talk about American strength, the fact that we are continuing to wipe out ISIS, but that we have growing threats, such as North Korea.”
2018 Watch—Beto O’Rourke, the El Paso-area Democratic congressman challenging Ted Cruz in this year’s Texas Senate race, has outraised the Republican in the final quarter of 2017, to the tune of $2.4 million. Here’s more from the Dallas Morning News:
Feature of the Day—Katherine Miller, writing at BuzzFeed: “Donald Trump, MeToo, Facebook, And The Breakdown Of Institutional Power”
Revolving Door, Trump Era—CNN reports that Omarosa Manigault, the Apprentice villain-turned-White House staffer is heading back to reality TV following her recent exit from the West Wing. More specifically: Celebrity Big Brother on CBS.
“A CBS spokesman confirmed her new role,” CNN reports. “A promo featuring Manigault and the other contestants aired during the Grammy Awards on Sunday night.”
Song of the Day—“Highway Song” by Greta Van Fleet
