The Washington Post editorial board says its time for Democrats to embrace the border wall as long as Republicans can accept a path to citizenship for Dreamers.
The Post argues that a historic agreement is “within reach on the wall and immigration … if each side has the spinal fortitude to face down its own most rabid partisans and take it.”
The commentary comes just days after President Donald Trump, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and presumptive House Leader Nancy Pelosi became embroiled in a televised fracas over funding the wall. (RELATED: Pelosi: Wanting A Wall Is About The President Being A Man)
Presumptive Speaker, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and US President Donald Trump argue while making statements to the press before a meeting at the White House Dec. 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
The Post argues that for the president, “the art of this deal should be easy to grasp.” President Donald Trump should promise citizenship for the more than one million illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. by their parents, according to WaPo. He should also continue to offer asylum for the 300,000 Hondurans, Haitians and Salvadorans who are often illegally crossing into Canada, the board argues, because they think Trump is going to have them deported.
FILE PHOTO: Three families that claimed to be from Burundi walk down Roxham Road to cross into Quebec at the US-Canada border in Champlain, New York, Aug. 3, 2017. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi/File Photo
Although the Post only reluctantly boosts the wall, acknowledges that many Democrats find funding for it “distasteful,” and reminds us that Pelosi has even labelled the barrier “immoral,” the editors insist that there are sufficient moderate Democrats who down deep really support formidable border security. (RELATED: Trump Pledges That Military Will Build Border Wall If Dems Won’t Fund It)
The two sides aren’t even that far apart on money, the Post notes, with Trump asking for $5 million for the wall and the Democrats ready to spend $1.6 billion on some kind of border control.
Ultimately, while the Post considers Trump’s wall to be a “massive overkill,” the editors insist that a deal should be “a no-brainer for both sides” and “Democrats should be able to swallow that with the knowledge that it also will have paid to safeguard so many young lives.”