President Donald Trump celebrated the passage of a spending bill Friday which increases domestic and military spending over the next two year period, noting that the next phase of legislative negotiations will move to find a permanent solution for DACA recipients.
Costs on non-military lines will never come down if we do not elect more Republicans in the 2018 Election, and beyond. This Bill is a BIG VICTORY for our Military, but much waste in order to get Dem votes. Fortunately, DACA not included in this Bill, negotiations to start now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2018
Trump ended the Obama-era protections for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children in September, citing its likely constitutionality. The president said lawmakers had 6 months to impose a legislative fix for the program and demanded that any solution included funding for a border wall, an end to chain migration, and an end to the diversity visa lottery program.
Trump offered his own legislative framework to Congress in recent weeks which includes his demands, and $25 billion for border wall funding, in return for a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
Democratic legislative leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, however, have rejected the White House proposal outright, decrying its long term cuts to the immigration system and pledging not to allocate funds for a border wall. The president has repeatedly emphasized to Schumer and other democratic lawmakers that if there is no funding for a border wall then a legislative fix for the illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children is a non starter.
The White House is remaining steadfast in its pledge to keep the March 5 expiration deadline, White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah told reporters Thursday. White House chief of staff John Kelly, however, said Monday that DACA recipients will not be priorities for deportation if the deadline expired.