The White House won’t back down from it’s key priorities for an immigration reform bill, after several proposals were shot down in the Senate on Thursday.
“The Administration will continue advocating for an immigration package that includes border security, ending chain migration, cancelling the visa lottery, and a reasonable DACA solution — a proposal Americans support overwhelmingly,” a statement from White House press secretary Sarah Sanders late in the evening Thursday said.
An immigration bill from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, was one one of several immigration bills that were rejected — even though it was backed by the White House.
The proposal would have provided citizenship for 1.8 million young people brought illegally into the country as children and given $25 billion in border security funding, mirroring a bipartisan proposal from Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; and Angus King, I-Maine that was supported by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
The White House called Grassley’s proposal a “compromise bill” because some conservatives were opposed to it due to the protections for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program. DACA expires early next month.
However, Grassley’s plan would have placed limits on family visas, which is often referred to as “chain migration,” and would have also eliminated the visa lottery system.
Schumer put the blame on Trump for opposing the so-called “Schumer-Rounds-Collins” plan, which was rejected by Republicans and a few Democrats.
“President Trump has failed his test of leadership spectacularly,” he said.
Trump had indicated that he did not support the bipartisan bill and said it was a “mass amnesty” proposal he was inclined to veto.
However, the bipartisan bill got far more support than that of the proposal backed by Trump. The Schumer-Rounds-Collins plan was defeated by a 54-45 margin. Of the three other plans the Senate rejected on Thursday, the Grassley proposal was the least popular, failing by a 39-60 vote.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who supported the bipartisan proposal, attacked “demagogues” on both sides of the aisle for striking the bill down, but also noted that Trump would be a key figure in accomplishing a solution.
“The only way forward is for President Trump to grab the reins and lead us to a solution,” he said.
It is uncertain when or if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will bring immigration proposals to the Senate floor again.
