29 Jan Democrats Accuse Trump of Using Children as “Hostages” in Current Legislative Negotiations
As we all know, President Trump put a stop to the DACA program last year, putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and their families at risk of deportation. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was started by the Obama Administration in 2012, to allow minor children of undocumented immigrants to be safe from deportation. Why target these innocent children? Democrats believe Trump was setting himself up to use these innocent “Dreamers” as pawns in his future border wall negotiations.
Fast-forward several months and the US-Mexico border has again taken the national spotlight. It appears that Trump is using the plight of these children for just that… negotiations with congress over funding his infamous border wall with Mexico. Trump wants $25 billion dollars for this investment, despite his campaign representations that “Mexico would pay for the wall.” Dems originally said no way.
With the government at a stale-mate, negotiations have been ongoing, and a new bill is on the table. In an attempt to bridge the differences between President Trump and the Democratic party, the recent immigration bill proposed by Durbin and Sen. Lindsey Graham is said to be “a real bipartisan process,” in which the Democrats were willing to make trades they wouldn’t usually make to get a deal — even considering the wall in negotiations. What leverage would make Democrats reconsider the wall? A path to citizenship for the 1.8 million people affected by DACA and the President’s harsh immigration reforms. In return, the President wants a $25 billion investment allocated to tightening the Mexico border, an end to the Diversity Lottery all together, and an end to family-based immigration beyond spouses and minor children. Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois described the proposal as “$25 billion as ransom for Dreamers.”
So maybe the Dems were right? It does seem that the President is in fact, using the plight of Dreamers as a negotiating tool to get what he wants; a complete crack-down on US immigration and a border with Mexico so tight it’s almost jail-like.
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Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/25/politics/daca-democrats-reaction-white-house-donald-trump/index.html