Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., hailed President Trump Tuesday for his efforts to extract extra funding from Congress to bolster border security, despite the looming threat of a partial government shutdown.
“Great job sticking to your guns on border security, Mr. President!” Graham tweeted Tuesday after Trump clashed with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the top two Democrats in Congress, in a fiery Oval Office meeting held partly in front of the press.
“You are right to want more border security funding including Wall money. They are WRONG to say no. Put DACA on the table and make them say NO to the Wall and DACA,” Graham wrote, referring to the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
You are right to want more border security funding including Wall money.
They are WRONG to say no.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 11, 2018
Put DACA on the table and make them say NO to the Wall and DACA. #DigIn
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 11, 2018
Trump is asking Congress to approve $5 billion in border wall funding before a Dec. 21 deadline for a new spending measure. Congressional Democrats, however, are unwilling to consent to more than $1.6 billion in what they call border security, with Pelosi explicitly ruling out money for a wall along the southern border with Mexico.
Graham, a Trump ally, was part of the Common Sense Coalition of senators working toward a bipartisan deal on immigration reform. The group suggested a framework in February that would have provided a pathway to citizenship for the so-called Dreamers, or immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as minors, while also addressing border concerns. No agreement was reached.
This is not the first time Graham has encouraged Trump to “dig in” over his demands.
“If I were the president, I would dig in and not give in on additional wall funding,” Graham told Fox News on Sunday, citing recent flows of migrants from Central America and Mexico. “I want the whole $5 billion because the caravan is a game-changer.”
