President Donald Trump told reporters he’d like to see a government shutdown if Democratic lawmakers do not agree to his immigration reform offer, he said Tuesday.
“I’d love to see a shutdown if we don’t get this stuff taken care of” — President Trump talking about the prospects of an immigration deal during a White House roundtable on MS-13
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) February 6, 2018
“If we don’t get rid of these loopholes, let’s have a shutdown, we’ll do a shutdown, I’d love to see a shutdown if we don’t get these things taken care of,” Trump told reporters.
The White House legislative framework on immigration is currently before Congress. It demands full funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, an end to chain migration and an end to the diversity visa lottery program in exchange for a pathway to citizenship for approximately 1.8 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. as children.
An imminent deal on immigration is unlikely in the coming days as a government spending bill is due to expire on February 9. Democrats and Republicans reached an impasse in late January resulting in one of the first shutdowns since 2013.