President Donald Trump repeated his insistence that any permanent deal to codify the DACA program into law has to include funding for a border wall, in a Tuesday press conference with the Norwegian prime minister.
Any DACA solution “has to include the wall, because without the wall it all doesn’t work,” the president flatly declared. Trump is currently embroiled in tense negotiations with Democratic lawmakers over a deal for DACA in which he has insisted on funding for border security, an end to chain migration and an end to the visa lottery program.
Trump ended the Obama-era protections in September, extending the program until March 2017, leaving it to Congress to forge a permanent solution for the nearly 800,000 illegals. The president’s proposed wall will install fencing on 316 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border and bolster security along the other 407 miles. The $18 billion appropriation will also go towards hiring more border security agents.
Republican lawmakers previewed a bill that appeared to bear Trump’s endorsement Monday evening. It includes $30 billion of funding for a border wall along with other border security measures. The bill would also “add boots on the ground: an additional 5,000 Border Patrol agents and 5,000 Customs and Border Protection officers. It would provide for the construction of additional ports of entry and a full implementation of the biometric entry-exit system, while authorizing the National Guard to provide aviation and intelligence support.”