The new year is beginning a lot like the old year ended in Washington D.C.---with a legislative battle between the President and both houses of Congress. At issue is what to do about the so-called "Dreamers"--younger illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Last year, President Trump rescinded President Obama's DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) order that granted protections to the Dreamers, in a move that caused controversy on all sides.
With the current budget resolution set to expire Jan. 19, Democrats are eager to secure those DACA protections as part of the new budget agreement. But Republicans and the President are insisting on concessions like funding a border wall and ending chain migration. President Trump said so explicitly in a recent tweet, writing, "There can be no DACA without the desperately needed WALL at the Southern Border and an END to the horrible Chain Migration and ridiculous Lottery System of Immigration etc."
Texas Sen. John Cornyn expressed confidence this week that both sides can reach an agreement on DACA. "This provides an opportunity, not only for us to provide compassionate relief to the DACA recipients, but to restore enforcement of our immigration laws," Cornyn said on the Senate floor.
Anti-illegal immigration advocates do not see the negotiation as an opportunity, but rather a sellout by the President and GOP. "We find it very upsetting that President Trump is supporting this, as one of his first immigration moves, when he concealed such a stance from us during the 2016 campaign," says William Gheen with the Americans for Legal Immigration Pac (ALIPAC). "They want to focus on giving amnesty or some type of a pass to DACA aliens, instead of focusing on equal enforcement on all illegal immigrants in the country."