On Thursday, President Donald Trump urged Republicans to overcome their internal arguments on immigration policy, divisions that are closely interlinked with a government funding deadline looming next week. If Congress cannot agree to another temporary spending bill by 8 February, another shutdown, like the three-day period in January, could result.
Last month’s shutdown was largely resolved by a promise from Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell, to stage a vote on plans to help protect young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as minors. At a countryside retreat, Trump told his party lawmakers that compromise was going to be needed to gain Democratic Party support to pass several major Senate bills.
Trump has won support because of his tough stance on immigration but has said he is willing to allow the 1.8 million ‘Dreamers’ to remain in the US and get on a pathway to eventual citizenship, but the offer is dependent on other new curbs for immigration. This includes $25 billion in funding to pay for the much-discussed wall on the border between the US and Mexico. Trump wants all aspects of his framework included in the Senate bill.
The Democrats are unwilling to agree to some of the President’s terms, and his proposal is also proving to be too liberal for many in his own party, with House of Representatives conservatives uneasy about offering an ‘amnesty’ to any undocumented immigrants, regardless of the circumstances.