Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged Democrats to proceed with caution as they begin negotiating a deal with President Trump protecting young illegal immigrants from deportation before the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program end in March.
“I don’t like the starting point of this negotiation, and I think the Democrats have to exercise extreme caution because basically what the transaction is is the president saying to the Democrats, ‘I’ll give you what you already have,’ which is DACA,” Cuomo said in a radio interview Sunday with 970 AM.
“And in exchange, I want more money for border security with Mexico, which … is going to turn into a wall by the time he’s finished.”
Trump has already begun with discussing with Democrats a deal on DACA, which the administration announced earlier this month it would rescind in March. The president gave Congress six months to pass legislation addressing Dreamers, who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and are protected from deportation under DACA.
On Wednesday, Trump had dinner with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The Democratic leaders said the president agreed to legislation that protects Dreamers, but does not include funding for Trump’s border wall.
But the White House said the president did not agree to a deal.
Cuomo, meanwhile, warned Democrats about striking an agreement with Trump and warned increased funding for border security in a DACA bill could lead to funding for a wall.
“Now the president says, ‘I want more money for border security, but I won’t build the wall,'” he said. “Now I guarantee you, where this winds up is, ‘OK, I got more money for border security. We’re putting in cameras, we’re putting in sensors, we’re putting in an electric grid …’ Then the president will say, ‘I have a cyber wall. Better than the wall that we were talking about. Better than a fence. This is a new electronic, highly sophisticated fence.”
“This is a fence for 2020,'” Cuomo said. “That’s where it’s going to come out, guaranteed.”
