Durbin Statement On White House Immigration Proposal
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on the Trump Administration’s immigration proposal, which was presented to the press this evening. The White House has scheduled a briefing on the plan for Senator Durbin and others this coming Monday afternoon.
"Dreamers should not be held hostage to President Trump’s crusade to tear families apart and waste billions of American tax dollars on an ineffective wall. After four and a half months, his Administration finally says it has a plan to solve the crisis he created when he ended DACA. The White House claims to be compromising because the President now agrees with the overwhelming majority of Americans that Dreamers should have a pathway to citizenship. But his plan would put the Administration’s entire hardline immigration agenda—including massive cuts to legal immigration—on the backs of these young people.
"Republicans have just fourteen days to work with Democrats to reach a bipartisan agreement to pass the Dream Act and solve the DACA crisis. The President himself acknowledged two weeks ago that this must be addressed first, before any attempt to turn to comprehensive immigration reform. Bipartisan negotiations continue in Congress to get that done now."
The Trump Administration terminated DACA on September 5th and called for Congress to come up with a legislative solution before March 5th.
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