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White House Demands Border Wall Before Saving DREAMers
In mid-August, we provided a primer that explained what DACA is and why it exists and that it was in grave danger of being ended. On Tuesday, September 5th, Attorney General Jeff Sessions did just that on behalf of Trump.
The approximately 700,000 DACA recipients are often referred to as DREAMers. Under the program, they temporarily avoid deportation and receive work permits.
Public outrage has been strong for the past month. At several points, it appeared Trump would compromise and support legislation to allow DREAMers to stay in the U.S. We found out last weekend what that compromise is:
Trump on Sunday sent Congress a list of sweeping immigration changes he says "must be included as part of any legislation addressing the status of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients." Trump wants the border wall he campaigned on to be built, a crackdown on illegal immigration and to switch the U.S. legal immigration system from one that prioritizes family connections to one based on merit. White House documents call for "completing construction of a wall along the southern border of the United States" and ensuring "funding for the southern border wall and associated infrastructure."
[Democratic leaders] say these proposals are a clear break with what they believe was agreed to during that dinner at the White House. "We told the President at our meeting that we were open to reasonable border security measures alongside the DREAM Act, but this list goes so far beyond what is reasonable," Pelosi and Schumer said in a statement. "This proposal fails to represent any attempt at compromise."