President Donald Trump said a new bill to be introduced by Congressman Bob Goodlatte permanently establishing the DACA program will be “one of love.”
Trump did not elaborate on what exactly a bill “of love” would entail for the nearly 700,000 illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. The president’s comments came during a meeting with immigration policy leaders from the Republican and Democratic party Tuesday morning in an attempt to forge an agreement on the future of the DACA program.
“I really do believe Democrat and Republican, the people sitting in this room, really want to get something done,” the president said in the meeting, a White House pool report indicated. “I hope we’re going to come up with an answer for DACA.”
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 700,000 illegals. Trump has insisted any fix to the DACA program must be accompanied by funding for his promised border wall, an end to chain migration, and an end to the diversity visa lottery program.
Trump will request Congress appropriate approximately $18 billion to begin construction on the wall, attempting to fulfill a core campaign issue. The 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.
Democrats have indicated they fight the border wall funding and lack of DACA deal by filibustering any spending bill in the U.S. Senate and possibly even shutting down the government when a temporary spending bill until Jan 19 expires.
“Put country before party,” the president implored the bipartisan group of lawmakers on funding.