Dimocrats get everything they want on DACA/Immigration, STILL REFUSE to compromise!

[Irish]

So the Dimocrats wanted 800K Dreamers to get some form on amnesty and legal status. In return they give the GOP some funding for border wall and security.

Trump decides to give them even more. 1.8 million dreamers with family members PLUS a path to CITIZENSHIP! Not just legal status. Again going above and beyond.

In return Trump and GOP wants border securty/wall funding. Getting rid of the pitiful and unpopular visa lottery, and chain migration.

Seems like a big win win for the Dims if they agreed. Instead they stonewall in the senate and keep shooting it down. A lot of cons are happy because they feel like 1.8 mill is blanket amnesty.

SO instead of getting policy THAT THEY WANTED actually accomplished and helping people they claim to care about, they rather stone wall Trump because they rather try to tie him up and block him and use it as a wedge issue in 2018 midterms. Its disgusting dirty politics on display. Absolute garbage. I hope the American people realize the stink that Chuck and Nancy are up to and don't give them any new seats. Truely sick.

[Jade Dragon]

Does it sting that much when what comes around goes around? Why should the democrats give anything on a wall that the majority of people are against anyway? I don't know what info your trying to give being on ignore, but this is something people like you should chew on.

[RB 60]

Does it sting that much when what comes around goes around? Why should the democrats give anything on a wall that the majority of people are against anyway? I don't know what info your trying to give being on ignore, but this is something people like you should chew on.

Then maybe you should come out from hiding behind your wall and participate in some debate, not that you actually could, though...

[Nordberg]

Don't know what the lottery is do you? It involves a max of 55,000 people . In order to qualify, they have to come from the countries that don't get much opportunity to come here. They have to be educated,. They can come here if they have an occupation that we desire, like scientist, or doctor . They have to be able to support themselves. These are exactly the immigrants that Trump says he wants coming.

[dukkha]

The breakdown in the U.S. Senate Thursday over legislative protections for a segment of undocumented immigrants demonstrated -- once again -- how entrenched the two parties have become on the overarching issue of immigration.

Lawmakers put forth three bills aimed at finding a solution for those brought to the country illegally as children and all three failed. A proposal that reflected President Trump's plan to offer a citizenship pathway for nearly 2 million illegal immigrants, approve $25 billion in border security funds and make significant changes to legal immigration received just 39 votes, the fewest of the proposals.

The votes were emblematic of notable shifts over time within each party and suggested why consensus on immigration policy may be intrinsically elusive, particularly as lawmakers brace for midterm elections later this year.

"Immigration has come to define the bases of both these parties now," said Muzaffar Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute, noting that the two parties’ divergence was crystalized in their 2016 election platforms.

While fault lines within the parties also have been on display over the past few weeks, the Senate votes offered additional clues about the power of base politics.

Republican Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada, for example, voted for Trump's immigration plan as well as legislation put forth by Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey to crack down on sanctuary cities, but voted against the two bipartisan DACA proposals. Heller is up for re-election this year in a state Hillary Clinton carried and which has a high Latino population. But he also faces a primary challenge from the right, and has kept most of his votes in line with the president.

Meanwhile, 14 Republicans voted against Trump's plan, many of whom argued it was not conservative enough. "We should not be granting citizenship to people here illegally," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz had said.

But though the Senate rejected the president's proposal, it is notable that 39 Republicans voted in favor of the legislation, which would place limits on family immigration and end diversity lottery visas. While Trump made a campaign mantra of "build the wall," his focus was mostly on illegal immigration. His embrace of principles championed by Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and former Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions -- whose former aide Stephen Miller is now Trump's top policy adviser -- demonstrates another shift.

"It's totally contrary to every other thing they claim as a principle, from being pro-life to pro-family to pro-economic growth and pro-business," said David Bier of the libertarian Cato Institute, citing assessments from a variety of economists that cuts to legal immigration would be a net negative to the economy. "There was not a push within the GOP to cut legal immigration and [Trump] single-handedly brought that about."

In another notable shift, Republican senators who voted for the 2013 comprehensive immigration bill voted against a bipartisan plan that would have extended a citizenship pathway for Dreamers and allocated $25 billion for border security measures that would include the wall along the southern border. Among them: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who was an architect of the 2013 bill and an also-ran in the 2016 GOP presidential primary. The Trump White House had threatened to veto the proposal if it passed, arguing it lacked interior enforcement. The veto threat represented yet another shift from last month, when the president said he would sign any bill lawmakers sent him.

The votes Thursday also exposed ways in which the Democratic Party has moved leftward on the issue, and how immigration has become something of a litmus test for the party. California Sen. Kamala Harris, considered a potential 2020 presidential candidate, was one of just three Democrats to vote against the bipartisan solution, even though it provided a pathway for Dreamers. Harris objected to the inclusion of a $25 billion appropriation for Trump's border wall, which she called "a waste of taxpayer money."

And Democrats who were once averse to some policy components involving illegal immigrants came around Thursday. Montana Sen. Jon Tester voted against the DREAM Act in 2010, calling it "amnesty" but backed the bipartisan proposals that would include citizenship pathways (the second one did not include funding for a wall). Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats, voted against comprehensive immigration reform in 2007 because he argued it disadvantaged American workers. On Thursday, the man who took heat from Hillary Clinton over immigration during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, advocated for Congress to pass not only “clean” protections for Dreamers, but also include a pathway to citizenship for their parents.


Midterm politics have intensified the already fraught issue. Republicans facing primaries have little incentive to back bipartisan immigration bills. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is under pressure from his conservative members, has said he wouldn't put forward any bill that doesn’t have the president's support.

"There's not much risk in a conservative Republican primary atmosphere for members to hold firm on immigration," said strategist Doug Heye, a former aide to onetime House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who lost a primary in 2013 largely on the immigration issue. "The word immigration -- legal or not -- has become a charged word in certain parts of the GOP. ... On our side, we have now basically defined anything short of loading up every person who is here illegally and putting them on a bus to Mexico … as amnesty."

Democrats have become more uniformly pro-immigrant and Republicans are still divided, but the hard-liner wing is ascendant," said Frank Sharry, executive director of the immigration reform group America's Voice. "Finding the sweet spot now is elusive at best and nearly impossible."

Democrats face challenges of their own when it comes to semantics. They are already loath to give Trump any victory on "the wall." Furthermore, their base is energized over the DACA issue, and leaders had gone so far as to advocate for a government shutdown in the absence of immigration legislation. But they have repeatedly found themselves backed into a corner. The activist group United We Dream opposed one of the bipartisan measures that stood the best chance of passage. "Stop playing by Trump’s rules and take principled action now to protect immigrants and people of color from the Trump government," wrote Executive Director Cristina Jimenez.

Meanwhile, several of the party’s senators are up for re-election in states Trump won. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted for Trump's immigration plan Thursday. “I share the president's commitment to border security. That’s why I voted for his plan," Manchin said.

Veterans of past immigration battles argue that the hardened positions on both sides will make it nearly impossible to move legislation with multiple components. "Immigration is just fraught with such political and policy landmines," said Cesar Conda, who served as Rubio's chief of staff and as a former policy adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Conda said he would urge Trump to advocate a narrower bill, one that might provide some kind of legal protections for Dreamers as well as funding for his border wall. The president could "claim victory, providing certainty for Dreamers and funds for a lot of photo ops for a wall on the southern border."

But with the Senate unable to forge consensus, it's even more unlikely the House will feel any pressure to act. And soon after the Senate failure, the blame game on Capitol Hill had already begun.

Caitlin Huey-Burns is a national political reporter for RealClearPolitics. She can be reached at chueyburns@realclearpolitics.com. Follow her on Twitter @CHueyBurnsRCP.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/ar...mus_tests.html

[dukkha]

So the Dimocrats wanted 800K Dreamers to get some form on amnesty and legal status. In return they give the GOP some funding for border wall and security.

Trump decides to give them even more. 1.8 million dreamers with family members PLUS a path to CITIZENSHIP! Not just legal status. Again going above and beyond.

In return Trump and GOP wants border securty/wall funding. Getting rid of the pitiful and unpopular visa lottery, and chain migration.

Seems like a big win win for the Dims if they agreed. Instead they stonewall in the senate and keep shooting it down. A lot of cons are happy because they feel like 1.8 mill is blanket amnesty.

SO instead of getting policy THAT THEY WANTED actually accomplished and helping people they claim to care about, they rather stone wall Trump because they rather try to tie him up and block him and use it as a wedge issue in 2018 midterms. Its disgusting dirty politics on display. Absolute garbage. I hope the American people realize the stink that Chuck and Nancy are up to and don't give them any new seats. Truely sick.

If I were a Dreamer I'd be severely pissed at being played for midterms politics

[Nomad]

So the Dimocrats wanted 800K Dreamers to get some form on amnesty and legal status. In return they give the GOP some funding for border wall and security.

Trump decides to give them even more. 1.8 million dreamers with family members PLUS a path to CITIZENSHIP! Not just legal status. Again going above and beyond.

In return Trump and GOP wants border securty/wall funding. Getting rid of the pitiful and unpopular visa lottery, and chain migration.

Seems like a big win win for the Dims if they agreed. Instead they stonewall in the senate and keep shooting it down. A lot of cons are happy because they feel like 1.8 mill is blanket amnesty.

SO instead of getting policy THAT THEY WANTED actually accomplished and helping people they claim to care about, they rather stone wall Trump because they rather try to tie him up and block him and use it as a wedge issue in 2018 midterms. Its disgusting dirty politics on display. Absolute garbage. I hope the American people realize the stink that Chuck and Nancy are up to and don't give them any new seats. Truely sick.

My, how quickly they forget.

I haven't, though...

GOP - No Compromise pledge

John Boehner, offering his plans for Obama’s agenda: “We're going to do everything — and I mean everything we can do — to kill it, stop it, slow it down, whatever we can.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell summed up his plan to National Journal: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

CRY HARDER, BITCH!!!!!

[Irish]

Does it sting that much when what comes around goes around? Why should the democrats give anything on a wall that the majority of people are against anyway? I don't know what info your trying to give being on ignore, but this is something people like you should chew on.

GOP leaders did try to work with Obama. Boehner compromised a lot as did Ryan. However Obama continued to move the goal post, and insult GOP ideas. So they gave up.

Boehner sacrificed his political life compromising with Obama.

[Irish]

Don't know what the lottery is do you? It involves a max of 55,000 people . In order to qualify, they have to come from the countries that don't get much opportunity to come here. They have to be educated,. They can come here if they have an occupation that we desire, like scientist, or doctor . They have to be able to support themselves. These are exactly the immigrants that Trump says he wants coming.

That sounds like a Merit based system. Which is what Trump wants.

[Irish]

My, how quickly they forget.

I haven't, though...



CRY HARDER, BITCH!!!!!

This is whats wrong with Washington and America. Bigoted people like Nomad who rather tear the country apart than work together.

[PostmodernProphet]

Don't know what the lottery is do you? It involves a max of 55,000 people . In order to qualify, they have to come from the countries that don't get much opportunity to come here. They have to be educated,. They can come here if they have an occupation that we desire, like scientist, or doctor . They have to be able to support themselves. These are exactly the immigrants that Trump says he wants coming.

actually, that would be a merit based system....the lottery is for people who DON'T meet those requirements......

[FUCK THE POLICE]

The proposed bill would've massively reduced non-white legal immigration. That was the entire purpose of the bill. It was unreasonable. We aren't willing to give everything for DACA. Let's just see a few videos of people with productive jobs who've lived here their entire lives saying goodbye to their children crying in American accents, let's see what that does to Trump's poll numbers. He'll lose his nerve. After 2018 or 2020 we will be able to pass DACA without any of this bullshit attached to it.

[Irish]

actually, that would be a merit based system....the lottery is for people who DON'T meet those requirements......

Exactly. Lotto system is like the title suggests. Random drawing. Merit based system is what he was describing.

[FUCK THE POLICE]

That sounds like a Merit based system. Which is what Trump wants.

Switching to a mostly skills based system would be nice. Why cut legal immigration levels in half though?

[Nomad]

GOP leaders did try to work with Obama. Boehner compromised a lot as did Ryan. However Obama continued to move the goal post, and insult GOP ideas. So they gave up.

Boehner sacrificed his political life compromising with Obama.

Just more of the same old right-wing from yet another right-wing lying liar.