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Trump seeks $25 billion for border wall, offers 'Dreamer' citizenship

By Roberta Rampton and Susan Cornwell

 

FILE PHOTO: Three of U.S. President Donald Trump's eight border wall prototypes are shown near completion along U.S.- Mexico border in San Diego, California, U.S., October 23, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday previewed his outline for an immigration bill that he will promote next week, saying he wants $25 billion (17.6 billion pounds) to build a border wall and is open to granting citizenship to illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.

 

Trump said he was optimistic he could come to an agreement with both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress that would appeal to hardliners seeking tougher rules for immigrants while also preventing the roughly 700,000 "Dreamers" from being deported.

 

"Tell them not to be concerned, ok? Tell them not to worry. We're going to solve the problem. It's up to the Democrats, but they (the Dreamers) should not be concerned," Trump told reporters during an impromptu question-and-answer session at the White House.

 

Trump campaigned for president in 2016 promising tougher rules for immigration. In September, he announced he was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme created by his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, effective in March - unless Congress came up with a new law.

 

The programme currently protects about 700,000 people, mostly Hispanic young adults, from deportation and provides them work permits.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the lead lawmakers in the immigration negotiations, said Trump's comments signalled a major breakthrough.

 

"President Trump's support for a pathway to citizenship will help us get strong border security measures as we work to modernize a broken immigration system," Graham said in a statement. "With this strong statement by President Trump, I have never felt better about our chances of finding a solution on immigration."

 

"COULD GO EITHER WAY"

 

Graham was part of a bipartisan group of three dozen senators who met on Wednesday on Capitol Hill to discuss moving forward on immigration legislation.

 

After the meeting, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill expressed cautious optimism to reporters about Trump's framework, saying "that could go either way," when asked if it will be helpful to lawmakers.

 

Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, was slated to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Thursday, a senior White House official said.

 

Trump so far has rejected bipartisan proposals to continue DACA, leading to the standoff between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate that resulted in a three-day government shutdown that ended on Monday.

 

Congress agreed to extend funding to Feb. 8, but Republicans promised to allow debate on the future of the young illegal immigrants. Senators began meeting to discuss their proposals on Wednesday.

 

The White House plans on Monday to unveil a framework for immigration legislation that it believes can pass muster with both parties. Trump will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night.

 

For immigration legislation to be enacted into law, the House of Representatives ultimately would have to pass a bill identical to whatever the Senate approves.

 

Trump said his proposal would include a request for $25 billion for the border wall, $5 billion for other border security programs, measures to curb family sponsorship of immigrants, and an overhaul of or end to the visa lottery system.

 

In exchange, he said he wanted to offer the Dreamers protection from deportation and an "incentive" of citizenship, perhaps in 10 to 12 years.

 

Addressing the status of the Dreamers' parents, who brought them into America illegally, would be "tricky," Trump said.

 

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Makini Brice and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Leslie Adler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-01-25

[PatOngo]

.......and who's gonna pay for this big, beautiful wall.................?

[stevenl]

So the Dreamers can be bought.

[canuckamuck]

What's the point of a wall, as soon as the Dems are in office they will put a 4 lane highway through it and hand out passports from kiosks at the entrance.

[boomerangutang]

And I'm sure Trump is sending an invoice for $25 billion to Mexico City.

 

Just as sure as Mexico's prez is sitting at his desk and writing out a check for that amount, as we speak.

 

Thanks, Trump voters, for being such gullible stupidissimos, and saddling the US with such a dangerous dufus.  The harm you did, for voting for such an imbecile, will reverberate for generations.

[Becker]

Here, let me fix that for you.

 

 

9 minutes ago, canuckamuck said:

What's the point of a wall, as soon as the Dems are in office they will put a 4 lane highway through it and hand out passports from kiosks at the entrance.

[boomerangutang]

7 minutes ago, canuckamuck said:

What's the point of a wall, as soon as the Dems are in office they will put a 4 lane highway through it and hand out passports from kiosks at the entrance.

Dems want strong borders as much as anyone else.  Already tens of billions of $$'s are spent on border measures.  The difference with Reps is: Dems want to do it smart, and not spend tens of billions of dollars wastefully.  

 

If I was a Mexican, I would want to climb over that wall just for the challenge, and to show others what an easily scaled wall it is - even if I didn't want to come to the expensive country over-run by lazy fat people ingesting over-priced pharma drugs.

[puck2]

25 minutes ago, stevenl said:

So the Dreamers can be bought.

exactly my idea. If you want something from Trump .... you must pay. This time for 25$ billion.

Vice versa, that doesn't work in the same way. He himself got it much cheaper in the Trump University fraud - after the November 8, 2016 election.  A "settlement" eliminated the possibility that Trump would be called to testify in court in the midst of his presidential transition  He payed only $25 million.

[alanrchase]

So the wall that originally was going to be coast to coast and cost 4 billion according to The Great Leader is now going to cost 25 billion for 300 odd miles.

[wanderluster]

moving to mexico and starting a ladder factory

[mike324]

there are already parts of borders with walls, you can either dig a tunnel, use a ladder or crane to cross. This new wall won't be any different for illegals to cross. So whats the point? Please Trump supporters, lets hear why this new wall is so great at preventing illegals.

[blazes]

what an idiot.  (Michael Wolff's book is too painfully true as each day passes).

 

So, notice the "promise".....don't worry TODAY, you schmucks, and we MAY give you legal standing in 10 years or so, when I will no longer be around to have to admit defeat....

I wonder which international lenders will cough up the $25 billion?  Oh, forgot...it's the US taxpayer who has to fork out...

[connda]

"...is open to granting citizenship to illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children."

But as a US senior citizen, and a veteran, and an expat married to a foreign national - I can not bring my wife into the United States because I don't meet some absurd financial requirements (your pensions don't make the cutoff - peon!) - because of course, we don't want our veterans with foreign wives to be a burden on the US taxpayers - but come in illegally and we'll roll out the red carpet.  Refugees!  Gold-laced red carpets for you!!!. 
Reality:  With both my wife and I entering the work force once in country, not only would we not need 'public insistence', but but I wouldn't want it.  I'll stop there because this nonsense makes me really pissed off.  Here is my own country telling me to 'go to hell' because "Dreamer' illegals are more important!  All these 'dreamers' from foreign countries want a better shot at life - but as a US citizen with a foreign wife and family -- well screw you US citizen veteran and your family too!  Lets not even talk about my step-son and daughter in law - we are all persona non-grata.  I love the "We can't break up families" meme.  Sure you can.  You make it impossible for my foreign wife and family to enter the US in order to advance the cause of illegals.  What the hell am I suppose to think?  Incredible hypocrisy! 

[Credo]

3 hours ago, connda said:

"...is open to granting citizenship to illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children."

But as a US senior citizen, and a veteran, and an expat married to a foreign national - I can not bring my wife into the United States because I don't meet some absurd financial requirements (your pensions don't make the cutoff - peon!) - because of course, we don't want our veterans with foreign wives to be a burden on the US taxpayers - but come in illegally and we'll roll out the red carpet.  Refugees!  Gold-laced red carpets for you!!!. 
Reality:  With both my wife and I entering the work force once in country, not only would we not need 'public insistence', but but I wouldn't want it.  I'll stop there because this nonsense makes me really pissed off.  Here is my own country telling me to 'go to hell' because "Dreamer' illegals are more important!  All these 'dreamers' from foreign countries want a better shot at life - but as a US citizen with a foreign wife and family -- well screw you US citizen veteran and your family too!  Lets not even talk about my step-son and daughter in law - we are all persona non-grata.  I love the "We can't break up families" meme.  Sure you can.  You make it impossible for my foreign wife and family to enter the US in order to advance the cause of illegals.  What the hell am I suppose to think?  Incredible hypocrisy! 

So since you failed to plan for a reasonable secure future, no one should get into the US?   The poverty guideline is pretty low, it's $20,290 for 2 people.   It's the same for everyone.   I've had quite a few friends who have married and had family and had few problems bringing their families to the US.   Of course, they were of working age, had usable skills and were extremely low risk of becoming a public charge.   

 

DACA recipients can't get welfare.  

[arithai12]

Time to open a shop near the wall selling spray paint.

[heybruce]

"Trump said his proposal would include a request for $25 billion for the border wall, $5 billion for other border security programs...."

 

Five times as much for a BS wall than for actual border security.

 

What kind of idiot thinks a wall, now a see-through fence for only a few hundred miles, will work?  Do Republicans actually believe that people who have crossed jungles, deserts, rivers, and mountains to get to the border will look at the see-through fence and say "Damn! We can't get through that!  Better go home."?

[heybruce]

Time for a little math.  $25 billion dollars to build a wall along a 2000 mile border means the border wall will cost $12.5 million dollars per mile, or almost $2400 per foot of wall. 

 

However latest reports are that the plan is for only 700 miles of new wall, which brings the cost to $6764 per foot of wall, or see-through fence, or whatever it ends up being.  Even by Trump gold-plating standards, that is ridiculous.

 

Ok wall fans, try to justify those numbers.