The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
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Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:33 PM
President Trump: Senate Immigration Plan That Was Defeated Thursday Would Have Created "Sancutary Nation"
On Twitter Thursday afternoon, President Trump called the plan a “total catastrophe,” urging lawmakers to back another proposal authored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
Donald J. Trump
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@realDonaldTrump
The Schumer-Rounds-Collins immigration bill would be a total catastrophe. @DHSgov says it would be “the end of immigration enforcement in America.” It creates a giant amnesty (including for dangerous criminals), doesn’t build the wall, expands chain migration, keeps the visa...
2:25 PM - Feb 15, 2018
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15 Feb
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
The Schumer-Rounds-Collins immigration bill would be a total catastrophe. @DHSgov says it would be “the end of immigration enforcement in America.” It creates a giant amnesty (including for dangerous criminals), doesn’t build the wall, expands chain migration, keeps the visa...
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
...lottery, continues deadly catch-and-release, and bars enforcement even for FUTURE illegal immigrants. Voting for this amendment would be a vote AGAINST law enforcement, and a vote FOR open borders. If Dems are actually serious about DACA, they should support the Grassley bill!
2:26 PM - Feb 15, 2018
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A blistering statement from DHS warned the plan would mean the “end of immigration enforcement in America.”
“The changes proposed by Senators Schumer-Rounds-Collins would effectively make the United States a Sanctuary Nation where ignoring the rule of law is encouraged,” the department said in a statement late Wednesday.
That statement was in response to the bipartisan agreement, drawn up by a “Gang of 22” led by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, which would grant a 10-12 year path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who arrived in the country as children, some of whom were protected by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program . That program is poised to expire in March -- though court battles could delay that -- after action by Trump.
The president says he wants to help DACA recipients but expects other border security and reform measures to be included.
The bill in question looks to assuage conservative concerns by preventing those illegal immigrants from sponsoring their parents for citizenship, though they could gain it via other pathways. The legislation also would provide $25 billion for a border wall and other border security measures.
However, it would dole the money out over 10 years and lacks most of the limits Trump is seeking on legal immigration.
It is one of several plans that soon could be considered in the Senate as senators look to strike a deal. Procedural votes could be held as early as Thursday afternoon.
"Our proposal would represent the most significant change to immigration law in the past thirty-five years," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C, who has supported a number of doomed immigration proposals, said Thursday.
Can the Senate pass a moderate bill? The Hill's Kristin Tate reacts on 'Fox & Friends First.'Video
Senate comes to a bipartisan deal on immigration
"We've reached a deal that gives us the best chance to protect Dreamers against deportation from the only country they know as home," Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said.
But the White House said ahead of the votes that it would veto the legislation, claiming it would weaken border security and undercut existing law -- naming specifically a measure protecting illegal immigrants who arrived before January.
“The Administration is committed to finding a permanent, fair, and legal solution for DACA,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “But this Amendment would only compound the problem by encouraging millions of additional minors to be smuggled into the United States. We need to solve the problem, not perpetuate it indefinitely.”
The DHS, in its statement, said the bill would mark “the end of immigration enforcement in America and only serve to draw millions more illegal aliens with no way to remove them.”
While the legislation would fulfill some of Trump’s demands, such as the $25 billion for border security, it falls short of the “four pillars” that Trump said needed to be fulfilled for him to sign immigration legislation.
The statement claims that the amendment would limit DHS to only removing criminal aliens and national security threats who have arrived after June 2018 (Collins later clarified that that date would be pushed back to January as it has "caused confusion"), and fails to address loopholes that prevent deportation and removal -- perpetuating so-called “catch and release.”
On the subject of DACA, DHS claims that it would in fact give citizenship to 3 million illegal immigrants, with many eligibility requirements able to be waived, as well as expand the pool to immigrants who came to the U.S. recently or are “decidedly not children.”
The administration also objected to the bill’s failure to address so-called “chain migration” -- by which immigrants can sponsor a broad number of relatives to come join them in the U.S. Trump has said that he wants to limit sponsorship to children and spouses. It claimed that by leaving such a system in place, it could increase the number legalized to as many as 10 million.
The bill also would not end the visa lottery system, which allows 55,000 immigrants into the country each year and has been dogged by accusations of fraud and abuse.
Graham reacted angrily to the statement, calling it “politically poisonous” and telling reporters that DHS should be more grateful and say “thank you.”
“Every time someone comes up with idea to give you $25 billion, you should say thank you. The DHS press release is over the top. It’s politically poisonous. It’s ridiculous and I’ve long since stopped paying attention to them,” he said.