White House aims to sway opinion on immigration overhaul

Swim19 · 12-15-2017, 01:43 PM

Quote:

The White House is embarking on a major campaign to turn public opinion against the nation’s largely family-based immigration system ahead of an all-out push next year to move toward a more merit-based structure.

The administration was laying the groundwork for such a drive even before an Islamic State-inspired extremist who was born in Bangladesh tried to blow himself up in Midtown Manhattan on Monday. It is assembling data to bolster the argument that the current legal immigration system is not only ill-conceived, but dangerous and damaging to U.S. workers.

“We believe that data drives policy, and this data will help drive votes for comprehensive immigration reform in Congress,” said White House spokesman Hogan Gidley.

White House officials outlined their strategy this week exclusively to The Associated Press, and said the data demonstrates that changes are needed immediately. But their effort will play out in a difficult political climate, as even Republicans in Congress are leery of engaging in a major immigration debate ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

The issue is expected to be prominently featured in the president’s Jan. 30 State of the Union address. The White House also plans other statements by the president, appearances by Cabinet officials and a push to stress the issue in conservative media.

Quote:

The White House hopes to see Congress begin to take up the issue early in 2018 — though it has yet to begin discussions with congressional leaders over even the broad strokes of a legislative strategy, officials said.

Trump has laid out general principles for what he would like to see in an immigration bill in exchange for giving legal status to more than 700,000 young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children. These include the construction of a border wall, tougher enforcement measures and moving to a more merit-based legal immigration system. In September, Trump gave Congress six months to come up with a legislative fix to allow the young immigrants known as “Dreamers” to stay in the country, creating an early-2018 crisis point he hopes will force Democrats to swallow some of his hardline demands.

https://apnews.com/6377210a36f74fd791af75bcbd644886

This push will muddy the water and make it even harder for DREAMer relief if the fight continues into next year.

Transcend · 12-15-2017, 01:52 PM

Yup, they had it planned all along. This is the exact reason why we all need to push for legislation this year. Come 2018, Democrats will have almost zero chance to have any input in whatever "DACA fix" the Repubs come up with.

Transcend · 12-15-2017, 01:53 PM

I wish Democrats would wisen up now that we know what Trump has in store for immigrants in 2018.

eva02 · 12-15-2017, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Transcend

Yup, they had it planned all along. This is the exact reason why we all need to push for legislation this year. Come 2018, Democrats will have almost zero chance to have any input in whatever "DACA fix" the Repubs come up with.

Stupid fuckin democrats. They always play right into the GOPs hand. Watch them vote against our relief in 2018, they won’t know wtf to campaign on

JJ Glo · 01:57 PM

I said it before. If it goes past December, we are done. GOP will want A LOT more for any relief for us. After December, best we can hope for would be a legalized DACA passed through Congress.

End to chain migration
End to DV lottery
Merit based immigration
Wall funding
I wouldn't be surprised if they ask to take away birth right citizenship to those born from illegals.

2MoreYears · 12-15-2017, 01:59 PM

My opinion differs.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it seems next year will be the year for a feasible compromise.

A feeling I'm sick and tired of.

always_learner11 · Expire: 8/7/18

Here's another Democratic Senator who thinks January might be the best option.

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Still, Menendez warned Dreamers — DACA recipients and other undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children — that they might have to wait till January to see a good deal, rather than a bad deal in December.

http://thehill.com/latino/365106-men...n-for-dreamers

tf2legend · 12-15-2017, 02:03 PM

Those talks should be part of CIR not Dream Act.

tf2legend · 12-15-2017, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by always_learner11

Here's another Democratic Senator who thinks January might be the best option.

http://thehill.com/latino/365106-men...n-for-dreamers

How will we get a better deal when the Democrats have no leverage? Next year we can hope for a Bridge Act

JJ Glo · 12-15-2017, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tf2legend

Those talks should be part of CIR not Dream Act.

Well, since they'll fail in passing the Dream Act in December, those talks will be coupled with Dream Act only, not in exchange for CIR. If Dream Act were to pass in December, then it would be a different scenerio next year.

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White House aims to sway opinion on immigration overhaul