Posted on 01/19/2019 2:34:52 PM PST by Kaslin
UPDATE:
President Donald J. Trump finished his address moments ago, offering the Democratic Party a compromised illegal immigration solution that would bring an end to the government shut down, institute extended protection for DACA recipients and other illegal aliens, as well as provide initial funding for 230 miles of steel barriers along the southern border.
"If we are successful in this effort, we will have the best chance in a long time at bipartisan immigration reform, and it won’t stop here, it will keep going until we do it all,” the president told the nation.
"Our immigration system should be a source of pride, not a source of shame," the commander-in-chief added.
As noted by Fox News, "It would also offer $800 million for drug detection technology to secure ports of entry, 2,750 new border agents and law enforcement professionals, and 75 new immigration judges to reduce the backlog of asylum requests. He said that all his measures have been supported by Democrats before."
But, even before the president made his remarks, Democratic leaders hinted they would reject this plan.
"Similar inadequate offers from the Administration were already rejected by Democrats. The BRIDGE Act does not fully protect Dreamers and is not a permanent solution," a senior House Democratic aide told The Hill.
"This is not a compromise as it includes the same wasteful, ineffective $5.7 billion wall demand that shut down the government in the first place," the source added.
After the announcement, key supporters Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin blasted the president for what amounts in their eyes to "amnesty."
Immediate: 3 yrs of amnesty for 700,000 illegal aliens who'll get work permits, Social Security #s & protection from deportation.
Immediate: Temporary (read: Permanent) Protected Status extension for 300k illegal aliens.
Later. Maybe. Someday: 230 miles of steel barriers.
??— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) January 19, 2019
Trump proposes amnesty. We voted for Trump and got Jeb!— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) January 19, 2019
100 miles of border wall in exchange for amnestying millions of illegals. So if we grant citizenship to a BILLION foreigners, maybe we can finally get a full border wall.— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) January 19, 2019
It is theorized that President Trump simply offered this proposal knowing the Democrats would never agree to it as a strategic political move to place the blame on Democrats for refusing to compromise, but other pundits observed it may not be as beneficial for the president as he thinks.
The positive is this shows independents that Trump is open to compromise, might make his poll numbers go up.
The negative is this tells his base he’s willing to sell out. For ppl who backed Trump since the beginning, this bill is poison https://t.co/W18HU4qzvc— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) January 19, 2019
It’s a great deal for Democrats. They get a cookie and his supporters get a crumb.#AmnestyDon https://t.co/lQgKd5Hb6S— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) January 19, 2019
ORIGINAL:
Axios' Jonathan Swan reported President Donald J. Trump could announce today a supposed illegal immigration deal that will seek protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients for the next three years as well as an extension of legal status for Temporary Protected Status holders in exchange for $5.7 billion border wall funding along the Mexican border. Observers should remember that in 1986 Republican President Ronald Reagan offered a massive amnesty compromise with Democrats to increase border security and decrease illegal immigration which resulted in neither a secure border nor a deterrent for illegal aliens. In fact, it arguably had the opposite outcome. If Swan's reporting is correct, this plan could pave the way for similar disastrous policy.
According to Axios, Jared Kushner and Vice President Mike Pence have orchestrated this deal after South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham suggested it in December. But, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell noted that "the letter from Nancy Pelosi telling Trump not to deliver the State of the Union" was a turning point for negotiation strategy. Axios' source says that "McConnell had been saying all along that Pelosi and Trump needed to negotiate because one needed to put a bill on the House floor and one needed to sign it — two people with singular power."
Likewise, Axios says that "advocates for the plan argue that by offering the new proposal, Trump is showing he’s willing to negotiate while Pelosi remains unmoved. But even some top Republicans are skeptical Trump's overture will be enough to break the logjam."
This could purely be a political move, with the president never expecting Democratic leaders to actually agree to it. This proposal could give the President a chance to make a play on voters who oppose the wall but want some sort of compromise by showing it is the Democratic leaders who are not willing to work together.
But, the question remains if this legislative deal would still be enough to stop illegal immigration the way the president intends to or if it would simply encourage more of it.
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed a historic immigration bill that granted "legal status, or amnesty, to aliens who can show that they entered the United States before Jan. 1, 1982, and have resided here continuously ''in an unlawful status'' since then. Aliens, such as foreign students or tourists, would generally be ineligible for the amnesty if they were in the United States legally for any portion of the time after Jan. 1, 1982."
The bill was supposed to curb illegal immigration by increasing border patrol security and punishing companies that hired illegal aliens. Likewise, aliens granted amnesty were "ineligible for welfare, food stamps and most other Federal benefits" with some "exceptions for the aged, blind and disabled and for pregnant women." Likewise, "the Federal Government..set aside $1 billion a year to reimburse state governments for the costs of providing public assistance, health care and education to illegal aliens who gain legal status."
But, not long after this law went into effect, The New York Times noted that "The mass of newly legalized immigrants is also acting as a magnet for illegal aliens who want to come to the United States to join friends and relatives."
Likewise, Democratic and Republican officials' "plan to strengthen the Border Patrol was never fully carried out, and experts reach widely differing verdicts on the effectiveness of the sanctions against employers who hire illegal aliens."
Fast forward 30 years later, and the United States is still dealing with an illegal immigration problem at our porous border. Every previous president has declared that this is a problem, but have failed to actually solve it. This potential plan likely would not solve it either and will only create more headaches.
The first problem, as noted by Adam Shaw, is that it is unclear if President Trump's plan would even cover the expense of the wall and what else President Trump would have to give up to earn more funding.
Worth noting that this wouldn't be "DACA in exchange for wall" deal, it would be "DACA in exchange for about a third of the wall." [Wall is estimated at at least $15 billion]
What would he need to give up to get the remaining $10 billion? https://t.co/b3rH89TtPj— Adam Shaw (@AdamShawNY) January 19, 2019
But even if the wall was fully funded, this plan would still create problem for Conservatives as illegal aliens who otherwise do not qualify for DACA would likely turn to immigration legal advocates to sue to claim they too deserve the same protections. The amount of time alone for thousands of illegal aliens in courts could take years. Plus, this codifying of protection for three years would eventually pave the way for permanent citizenship for these workers, especially if a Democratic president takes office in 2020.
But, in the short term, the threat of a wall and confusing policy would likely increase the flow of illegal immigration as well. This has its place in history after a Government Accountability Office report declared in 2015 that President Barack Obama's immigration policy and intended deterrents actually increased the number of illegal aliens entering America after wrongly assuming they could be eligible for DACA if they crossed the border.
At the time of the passing of the 1986 bill, President Ronald Reagan declared that 'Future generations of Americans will be thankful for our efforts to humanely regain control of our borders and thereby preserve the value of one of the most sacred possessions of our people, American citizenship." That obviously did not come into fruition as that effort did not allow America to retain control of its borders. It seems then-Rep. Chuck Schumer was more on the money when he said that, "The bill is a gamble, a riverboat gamble. There is no guarantee that employer sanctions will work or that amnesty will work. We are headed into uncharted waters.'"
Today, President Trump's potential immigration deal is also a "riverboat gamble" both politically and legislatively speaking. The compromise may gain some voters for the Republican party but if actually passed would more likely guarantee an influx of illegal immigration and full amnesty down the road when a Democratic president assumes office.
This post has been changed from its original headline of "President Trump's Potential Border Wall Deal Sounds Like Disastrous 1986 Immigration Compromise" to help avoid confusion.
Yes, this is a DOA sell out. Amnesty and not even for the whole wall.
Are there any rumors on the Pelosi wall deal? No?
My god, but you're so full of sh*t it staggers the human mind.
Trump has supported helping the DACA recipients pretty much from the beginning. They aren’t getting deported anyway. I don’t see the big “sell out”.
” institute extended protection for DACA recipients and other illegal aliens”
They shouldn’t be here and we’re not responsible for these parasites.
Amnesty and not even for the whole wall.
**************
Yep, Trump promised to BUILD THE WALL. Not a partial wall.
He should threaten a reduction in force to thin the ranks of the bloated federal government if the Dems don’t start negotiating in good faith.
How do you see this? Amnesty is a sell-out, especially as it is for only a small portion of wall. It is a sell-out. And, yes, it is DOA. No democrat is going to vote for it and hopefully no American-loving Republican will vote for it. Only ones voting for amnesty will be RINOs and GOPe. Shame on them; shame on you for selling out.
He was NOT asking for the entire wall from the start Einstein. 5.7 billion is roughly a 5th of the wall.
And more... he is giving DACA recipients work permits and government benefits!!! You agree to this?!
We need to pass the Wall Building Fund to know what’s IN the wall building fund. Sound familiar, Nancy? This Wall will save the American citizen on average about $2500/yr. Sound familiar, Barack Hussein Obama?
DREAMERS, were a done deal a long time ago, especially on a humanitarian level. Imagine Trump or any President rounding up people who were brought here when they were six years old and shipping them back to their country of origin. Many Americans went to church, school, college with some of them, and liked them as friends. It would have been a political nightmare ending in a political suicide. I, for one, would have been appalled. (And before I am flamed, I am a pure American, having twenty three ancestors, maternal and paternal who fought in the American Revolution.). Sorry, but it is the right thing to do.
700,000 illegal immigrants who have 3 years to bear children and become eligible for benefits via the birthright citizenship policy.
The DACA offered is ONLY for the minors (not their parents) and does not include a path to citizenship.
But you miss two things.
1) The dems indicated BEFORE the speech (Durbin) that they were going to reject it.
2) GEOTUS said during the speech he would build the wall "one way or another."
The speech was to fracture the Dems in Congress (Nazi Pelosi and the old guard vs. Occasional-Cortex and the Somali from MN), and screw the Dems' optics as "having the high ground".
Stay tuned. Trump is not a politician: he is playing not for gaming points, but to WIN. On behalf of the beleaguered citizens.
Don’t try to confuse these nay saying idiots who don’t know the first thing about negotiations and what Trump is really doing here with facts. It will be frustrating, annoy them, and not do any good.
PS You clearly do “get it.”
Pelosi and Schumer will say “no”, and Trump will go ahead and declare the “emergency”...says one possible scenario.
This could be a “last chance” offer...
Just for three years unless Congress passes a permanent DACA fix.
The USSC will hear the case eventually. With Ginsberg’s health uncertain it might be this year after all.
Do you accept some type compromise or do you reject and continue
along the current situation? Getting agreements in this gov’t we have
today is almost impossible.
Incidentally, these are mostly the same fools who did not understand what Trump was doing with China. Well, China just agreed to slash tariffs and import an extra TRILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR of US goods. Trump knows what he is doing and wins.
Stay strong.
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