Posted on 06/16/2018 5:36:30 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Friday morning Donald Trump said in an interview on Fox News that he would not support a "moderate" GOP immigration bill that would allow most DREAMers to stay in the U.S. and reduce the number of children separated from their parents at the border. The conservative alternative was heavy on border security and enforcement.
But later, the White House walked back that rejection, saying the president was "confused" and would sign the bill.
The chaos only added to GOP worries about the issue of immigration, which has split the party in two in the House.
Earlier this week, House Speaker Paul Ryan had told colleagues that Trump supported the middle-ground package. White House aide Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner who has been accused of trying to sabotage immigration deals in the past, told conservative lawmakers at a closed-door meeting that the president backed that plan.
But a senior White House official later said Trump had misspoken and believed his Fox interviewer was asking about an effort by GOP moderates abandoned for now that would have forced votes on a handful of bills and likely led to House passage of liberal-leaning versions party leaders oppose. The official, who was not authorized to discuss internal conversations by name, spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The interviewer had specifically asked whether Trump supported a conservative bill penned by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., or "something more moderate," and asked whether he'd sign "either one."
The White House later put out a statement formally endorsing the measure.
"The President fully supports both the Goodlatte bill and the House leadership bill," said White House spokesman Raj Shah, adding that Trump would sign "either the Goodlatte or the leadership bills."
Trump also weighed in by tweet, writing that any bill "MUST HAVE" provisions financing his proposed wall with Mexico and curbing the existing legal immigration system. Those items are included in the middle-ground package.
"Go for it! WIN!" Trump wrote in a tweet that stopped short of explicitly endorsing the compromise plan.
The compromise bill may need some Democratic votes to pass, and Nancy Pelosi has signaled the leadership's opposition. Besides, Democrats are in no mood to do any favors for Republicans, even if the compromise measure has some protection for DREAMers and addresses the issue of separating children at the border.
So Speaker Paul Ryan is going to have to find a way to entice most House conservatives to vote for the "moderate" alternative. It's an uphill battle, and if Trump truly wants the legislation, he and the House leadership are going to have to fight for it.
No, thank you very much, sir.
I hope your right .
That Ryan K street Amnesty bill deserved its quick death on Friday .
It was pure K street Open Borders disaster .
Hopefully Trump knows better than to piss off his base. The Dems will still hate the bill and declare it cruel. The Repub base will see it as a betrayal. Only a few GOPe types will like it. Why do something only (maybe) 20% of the people are likely to be enthused about soon before mid-terms?
At the very least, hed be very foolish to give amnesty to the DACA people without getting all of what he wants in return, including the entire wall. Its his only bargaining chip with the centrists and lefties. If he gives that away, how will he ever get more funding/permission for other border security changes? He absolutely cannot fail to aggressively and thoroughly secure the border after making that one of his main campaign promises.
And what’s the point of going for the “moderate” bill which will create millions more Democrat voters (the Stupid Party strikes again)? He should at least limit his potential support to Goodlatte’s bill (no path to citizenship) at a minimum. Sure, it would have trouble passing the Senate, but Trump needs to be there negotiating for the toughest bill he can get—or just forget about it.
Probably not...LOL
If Trump signs this amnesty / invasion-accelerator, “MAGA” becomes the greatest swindle in American political history.
Yes. Let’s see how this plays out. Dubya isn’t president now. Neither is McCain or Romney. Interesting times.
Who will stand by Trump’s side at an amnesty bill signing ceremony? Who gets the ceremonial pens?
Barack Obama?
Hillary Clinton?
Luis Gutierrez?
Will Trump’s remarks be in both Spanish and English?
He is kicking ass and taking names, why on this earth would you believe he rolls over now?
Immigration is his #1 issue and we even have the deep state campaigning for him.
He will adjust his tone some just to acknowledge the new "friends".
He knows exactly his station right now.
“We get stuck with a treasonous K street Amnesty plan.”
And a wall built in less than a year. And with that you hold congress. Things such as bills proposed by the minority party go nowhere and the majority party doesn’t necessarily need to do anything until they feel like it. That could be 4, 6, 14 years. Or maybe never.
If the President backs the Ryan amnesty, it’s clear he is not running in 2020, because he knows this is a deal breaker.
So you want to give full amnesty to 100% of non-criminal illegals? And you dont have a problem at all with how that would create many millions more Democratic voters and destroy the conservative movement (except at the local level)? Remember, Trump got around 28% of the Hispanic vote, while Bush for a single one of his elections got 40% at the highest estimate after doing all he could to pander to them. Even if the GOP does do your full amnesty plan, it’s still a crazy pipe dream that the majority of Hispanics will vote Republican.
This sounds to me like just another plan to water down Americans votes, so they no longer have a say over the future of their country, and a huge reward for breaking the law (which will encourage more to try to come, as we saw happen after Reagans amnesty, even if there is a wall— walls are helpful for sure but remember Visa overstays are as big a problem and even walls can be scaled by those desperate enough and boats can go around them).
Your plan about sending them back home for a little while and the American tax payers giving them extra spending cash sounds like a huge, pointless waste of money. Why would spending billions to temporarily deport and pay many millions of people be worth having a few percent of them choosing not to return to the US when they are given full legal status? A lot of regular Dem voters wouldnt even support an amnesty plan as generous as yours. I know some personally.
Lets just wait to the smoke clears.
Democrats will never accept it, it is a poison pill.
“So Speaker Paul Ryan is going to have to find a way to entice most House conservatives to vote for the ‘moderate’ alternative.”
Quit pretending this was the alternative plan. They never had any intention of letting any conservative legislation pass.
How about instead of this “moderate” plan, insist that moderates support the conservative plan.
For years the Republicans promised they would do something about illegal immigration. But when given the opportunity they do nothing.
Those who reject Trump’s decision are in favor of continuing immigration law as passed under the Bush and Obama administrations instead of tightening up against the flood (as the President and some members of Congress are doing). Several have even stated as much in this thread.
They’re open borders Libertarians. They’re globalists. They’re coastal free traitors. They love the incrementalism that brought the flood and hate any incremental move against it.
This is a watershed moment Mr President. Don’t get it wrong.
Yeah, you’re right. I hope this is a trial balloon.
Fake news.
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