As you can imagine, this did not go over well with some supporters, such as at Breitbart. Ted Cruz likewise blasted Trump over this
(CNN) President Donald Trump is proposing giving 1.8 million young undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship in exchange for $25 billion for his long-promised wall and a host of other strict immigration reforms, according to a White House framework proposed Thursday.
In what the White House framed as a “dramatic concession” and “compromise,” Trump would accept a path to citizenship not just for the roughly 700,000 undocumented immigrants were covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program when it was ended. But the proposal would also cover those undocumented immigrants who meet the DACA criteria but did not sign up and even more who would be newly eligible under the proposal’s timeframe requirements — giving legal status and a pathway to citizenship to about 1.8 million people.
In return, the White House would like to see a $25 billion investment in a trust for border infrastructure and technology, as well as more funds for personnel, and an end to family migration beyond spouses and minor children. The diversity visa lottery would also be abolished, though the visas would be reallocated so that the backlog of people already waiting for family visas and high-skilled immigration green cards would be processed.
In what may end up being the most contentious piece of the proposal, the White House is also looking to close “legal loopholes” that will allow it to deport more immigrants, specifically as it relates to undocumented immigrants from countries that don’t border the United States — which would likely include changes in immigration enforcement authority that would be virtually impossible for Democrats to swallow.
They’re offering this with the expectation of getting a lot back. They see it as a compromise position. Now, it wouldn’t mean a pathway to citizenship immediately: they’ve already noted that it would be at least 10-12 years before citizenship could be considered, and the illegals would have to meet certain criteria before it happened, much like as people going through the legal route have to meet. They think it could get 60 votes in the Senate. And, it may very well do that. However, it would mean a lot of Republicans not voting for it, while Democrats would love the idea of 1.8 more Democrat voters in the future.
Regardless, Trump made a promise during the campaign to not give amnesty. And Ted Cruz stated
(Bloomberg) Senator Ted Cruz blasted the idea of giving young undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship, a day after President Donald Trump said he was open to the idea as part of immigration legislation being negotiated in Congress.
“I do not believe we should be granting a path to citizenship to anybody here illegally,†the Texas Republican said in the Capitol. “Doing so is inconsistent with the promises we made to the men and women who elected us.â€
“For some reason that to me is utterly inexplicable, we see Republicans falling all over themselves to gallop to the left of Obama in a way that is contrary to the promises made to the voters who elected us,†Cruz said. “We need to honor the promises we made. And that is what I am energetically urging my colleagues to do.â€
I’d agree with the plan provide, as I’ve written before, that the people who brought the “Dreamers” have to self deport prior to any sort of legalization, meaning that even DACA cannot begin for any Dreamer until that person who “sinned” in bringing the kids has left. And, if they come back illegally then the whole kit and kaboodle is ended for that Dreamer, and they are deported.
Furthermore, I would like to see a major crackdown on those who hire illegals, and make companies and educational facilities heavily responsible for keeping track of the immigration status of those they sponsor. We need to crackdown on visa overstays.
Providing amnesty in any form isn’t going to earn the GOP any goodwill from Democrats, the media, nor the illegals themselves. It will earn the ire of Republican voters. The question here is, is a pathway a decade away worth it to get tough measures back? There would certainly need to be a poison pill in any bill, stating that if any security/law enforcement type measures are weakened, citizenship is off the table.
