President Trump will send bipartisan congressional leaders a “legislative framework” on Monday that he hopes can be a basis for a compromise on immigration.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Wednesday the framework will reflect “dozens of meetings” the president has had with Republican and Democratic leadership, and rank-and-file members. She also said it will include Trump’s four main priorities.
“Based on these negotiations, the White House will release a legislative framework … that represents a compromise that members of both parties can support,” Sanders said. “This framework will fulfill the four agreed-upon pillars: securing the border and closing legal loopholes, ending extended family chain migration, and providing a permanent solution on [the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program],” she added.
Sanders said Trump has been working with House and Senate members behind-the-scenes to draft a legislative blueprint for immigration talks ahead of the March 5 deadline for DACA to expire. She encouraged Senate leaders to swiftly bring the forthcoming White House plan “to the floor” for a vote.
The framework comes on the heels of a government shutdown that was fueled by disagreements over the necessity of extending protections for an estimated 800,000 DACA recipients. Trump announced last September that he planned to phase out the Obama-era program, leaving Congress to devise a legislative solution for young illegal immigrants who are currently shielded from deportation.
Trump has already rejected one bipartisan immigration reform proposal, introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., earlier this month.
The “Gang of Six” bill included $1.6 billion for brick-and-mortar improvements along the border, falling several billion dollars short of the administration’s $18 billion request. It would have also extended legal status to the parents of so-called Dreamers, a move panned by conservative immigration hawks as large-scale amnesty.
White House officials, including Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly and policy adviser Stephen Miller, have privately told conservative senators and various immigration groups that the president will not budge if Congress refuses to tackle border security, family-based chain migration, and DACA simultaneously. Still, the administration is hopeful that some compromise can be reached.
“After decades of inaction by Congress, it’s time we work together to solve this issue once and for all,” Sanders said Wednesday. “The American people deserve no less.”
