Trump angers right with 1.8 million Dreamers plan

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The White House has revealed President Donald Trump is willing to offer a path to citizenship to as many as 1.8 million Dreamers – young immigrants brought illegally to the US as children – as a carrot to Democrats to authorize funding for a border wall and a tightening of immigration rules.

"This is kind of a bottom line for the president," a senior official said of the proposal. "If it's realistic, then he'll sign it. If it isn't realistic, then he won't sign it."

US President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland on January 25, 2018. /VCG Photo

The plan would require Congress to set up a 25 billion US dollar "trust fund" to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico, invest in better protections at the northern border with Canada and curb legal immigration.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections apply to about 700,000 people, but there are many more immigrants who qualified for the program but did not sign up for it.

Officials said the 1.8 million people could apply to become citizens in 10 to 12 years providing they had jobs and did not commit crimes.

The White House hopes the proposals will be first voted on in the Senate in early February.

How have conservatives reacted?

Trump promised to scrap DACA on his first day in office when campaigning, and the latest proposal has sparked anger among conservatives.

The Breitbart website, ordinarily supportive of Trump's agenda, labeled the president "Amnesty Don."

Republican Senator Ted Cruz said it would be a "serious mistake" to grant a path to citizenship for any immigrants in the United States illegally.

"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," said Cruz, an immigration hardliner.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz has opposed the plan to offer a path to citizenship to the Dreamers. /VCG Photo

Conservative group Heritage Action called the proposal "amnesty" and said it should be a "non-starter."

Democrats were also skeptical. "The White House unfortunately has proven unreliable and wildly unpredictable," Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. "Within the course of hours, they say different things."

To become law, the measures would also need to pass the House of Representatives. A second senior official declined to speculate on whether the plan would pass the Republican-controlled chamber.

"I think the House will have an independent vehicle," the second official said. "We're not trying to force something on the House."

What else is in the plan?

White House officials made clear that a deal could not just address DACA and the border wall, but must include measures to curb legal immigration and deter new illegal immigrants.

The package would require Congress to limit family sponsorship of immigrants to spouses and minor children, ending sponsorship for parents, siblings, and other extended family members.

It would also end a visa lottery system for certain countries, the officials said.

Supporters of the Dreamers /VCG Photo

Those measures would cut immigration by 50 percent, said Frank Sharry, head of pro-immigration group America's Voice.

"We are going to fight this tooth and nail," Sharry said. Congress would have to allocate additional money to border guards and immigration judges, a figure that Trump pegged at five billion US dollars on Wednesday, but which White House officials said was up for further discussion.

The White House also wants Congress to change rules to allow for the rapid deportation of illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico and Canada who arrive at the US border, the officials said.

Why is DACA important?

Trump, whose hardline immigration stance was a key part of his 2016 presidential campaign, said in September he was ending the DACA program for Dreamers that was created by Democratic predecessor Barack Obama unless Congress came up with a new law.

The program protects people brought to the US illegally as children from deportation.

The fight over DACA, which is set to expire in March, was part of the standoff between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate that resulted in a three-day government shutdown that ended on Monday.

They agreed to extend funding until February 8, leaving a small window to come to a deal on immigration. Trump's plan will help those talks, said Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

"I am hopeful that as discussions continue in the Senate on the subject of immigration, members on both sides of the aisle will look to this framework for guidance as they work towards an agreement," McConnell said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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