Trump: ‘Getting Close’ to DACA Deal, but Major Immigration Overhaul Less Likely

Michcio07 · Michcio07

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-g...ely-1515705794

Quote:

President Donald Trump said Thursday he is closing in on a deal that would shield hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation in exchange for an expansion of a border wall and an end to the visa lottery program. But he signaled limited prospects for a more sweeping overhaul and a path to citizenship or legal status for millions of other immigrants.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Trump said the “wall” between the U.S. and Mexico wouldn’t need to physically cover the entire border. There are currently 654 miles across the southern border with some sort of fencing. The administration last week requested $18 billion in funding that would, over 10 years, repair some sections of the current structures and bring a total physical barrier to about 970 miles.

“The wall was never meant to be 2,100 miles long,” he said in reference to the 2,000-mile border with Mexico. “We have mountains that are far better than a wall, we have violent rivers that nobody goes near.”

He would pursue payment for it from Mexico as part of broader negotiations over the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement, he said. Mexico has said it won’t pay for the project.

“We make a good deal on Nafta, say I’m going to take a small percentage of that money and it’s going to go toward the wall—guess what, Mexico’s paying. Now, Mexico may not want to make the Nafta deal, which is OK, then I’ll terminate Nafta, which I think would be frankly a positive for our country,” Mr. Trump said.

The remarks came two days after Mr. Trump met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to try to reach a legislative agreement on the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, created through executive action under the Obama administration. Mr. Trump in September rescinded it amid Republican objections that President Barack Obama had overreached his authority.

In that same meeting, Mr. Trump expressed interest to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) in backing a broader effort to address U.S. immigration policy, including resolving the question of what to do about 11 million immigrants currently in the U.S. illegally.

A comprehensive immigration overhaul is an anathema to many of the president’s core backers, and on Thursday he rejected any suggestion of a path to citizenship for that broader immigrant population, saying: “I’m not talking amnesty at all.”

“Comprehensive immigration reform is a far step from DACA. I am always open to discussing everything, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to get anywhere close to getting it done,” he said.

The president said Thursday he was glad to be “getting close” on a legislative deal on the future of DACA. Later in the day, Sen. Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.), a member of a bipartisan group of congressional negotiators, announced that an agreement had been reached and forwarded for review to the White House.

“I have great feeling for DACA, I think that we should be able to do something with DACA, I think it’s foolish that we don’t,” Mr. Trump said before he received the proposed language in the agreement. “They’ve been here a long time, they’re longer children…nevertheless I think we should do something,” he said.

“I’m doing it from the standpoint of heart, I’m doing it from the standpoint of common sense. I’m doing it from another standpoint too,” the president said, adding of many of the hundreds of thousands of people covered by the program “work hard, they have jobs. We need workers in this country.”

catportal · catportal

This is old news. Nothing new since today's meeting.

nodreamnodealio · nodreamnodealio

I hope the backlash he's getting from what he said moves him to close a deal faster ...

Stunner310 · Stunner310

Here we go again

john_smith · john_smith

That is not backlash, that is a distraction that keeps the news busy reporting on other that immigrants being rewarded

Michcio07 · Michcio07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stunner310

Here we go again

This is just like a groundhog day.... you start at the top go up down up down think this ends but you wake up and you are on the top again....

I am no engineer comp sci background but I don't think roller coasters can't last forever... lol

Stunner310 · Stunner310

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michcio07

This is just like a groundhog day.... you start at the top go up down up down think this ends but you wake up and you are on the top again....

I am no engineer comp sci background but I don't think roller coasters can't last forever... lol

I agree with you just hope the ride ends smoothly lol

ceaguila · ceaguila

This interview was before the meeting which wasn't supposed to include Cotton and which he went full KKK calling African countries *shit-holes* and demanding that provision be taken out. Who knows what else happened though

JJ Glo · JJ Glo

This is before today's meeting?

Gastonstella · Gastonstella

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stunner310

Here we go again

lmfao!!! no shit!!

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Trump: ‘Getting Close’ to DACA Deal, but Major Immigration Overhaul Less Likely