Trump wants $18 BILLION from Congress for border wall
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS January 5, 2018, 1:59 PM
Trump wants $18 billion from Congress for border wall
President Trump is asking Congress to approve $18 billion in funding to finance his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, CBS News confirmed Friday.
The request, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed to CBS by a White House official, would cover construction of the wall over a decade. The official said that it's a potential ask for lawmakers as they craft border enforcement measures and will be discussed at a Camp David retreat this weekend attended by Mr. Trump, GOP congressional leaders and members of the Cabinet.
An administration official said that the document from the Department of Homeland Security that features the $18 billion request only covers one aspect of Mr. Trump's immigration priorities and was delivered to Capitol Hill to meet a specific request from negotiating team members.
The WSJ report said that the $18 billion would go toward 700 miles of new replacement barriers, expanding the current 654 miles of barrier to nearly 1,000 miles. It's unclear if this funding would be part of any governmentwide spending package that's currently being negotiated in Congress.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, reacted to the report in a letter to House Democrats Friday, "This is alarming. We must all speak out."
In recent days, Mr. Trump has said that any legislative deal to protect so-called "Dreamers" and make the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program permanent must "secure the wall." The president tweeted last Friday: "The Democrats have been told, and fully understand, that there can be no DACA without the desperately needed WALL at the Southern Border and an END to the horrible Chain Migration & ridiculous Lottery System of Immigration etc." He added:
"We must protect our Country at all cost!"
Prototypes for the border wall were completed in October and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said at the time that it would soon begin testing them. The administration may be preparing for the wall, but Congress has not allocated funding for it. Funding has been repeatedly blocked by Democrats whose votes Republicans need for spending bills in the Senate. Spending legislation requires 60 votes to advance in the upper chamber and Republicans only have 52 members.
If the president fails to deliver on the border wall, that could hurt Republican candidates in November. On the other hand, if Dreamers don't receive further protections, that could also alienate Hispanic voters and hurt GOP election chances as well.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-w...r-border-wall/
Trump plays hardball: Border wall, more security must be in Dreamers deal
By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Friday, January 5, 2018
The White House is asking for full funding for the border wall, new authority to prevent another surge of illegal immigrant children and restrictions on so-called sanctuary cities all be included in any bill to grant legal status to illegal immigrant Dreamers.
President Trump’s proposal, sent Friday to Capitol Hill, instantly roiled the debate, with Sen. Richard Durbin — Democrats’ chief negotiator in the discussions — saying his party was prepared to risk a government shutdown to avoid giving in to the president’s demands.
The Homeland Security Department has specifically asked for authorization to build about $18 billion worth of new fencing on the border, sending long-awaited details of the plan to Capitol Hill.
And the department reiterated that Mr. Trump’s October list of priorities must be part of the discussion. That list included the crackdown on sanctuary cities, new authority to reject bogus asylum applications and to quickly kick out new illegal immigrants, and a change in the current patterns of family-based chain migration.
“Effective border security will not be successful unless we close dangerous legal loopholes that enable illegal immigration and visa overstays. If these loopholes are not closed, and enforcement capabilities are not enhanced, our immigration system and border cannot be secured,” Benjamin L Cassidy, an assistant secretary at Homeland Security, said in a letter released by Mr. Durbin.
Mr. Durbin said those proposals were non-starters.
“President Trump has said he may need a good government shutdown to get his wall. With this demand, he seems to be heading in that direction,” Mr. Durbin said.
He said Democrats would consider “reasonable border security measures,” but said the list sent over by the administration Friday was “outrageous.”
Mr. Durbin said he’ll continue to negotiate with Sen. Lindsey Graham and other Republicans willing to work with him.
Immigrant-rights groups were furious at the report that Mr. Trump envisions a $18 billion in new fencing along the southwest border, and some also said they don’t want to see any more Border Patrol agents added to the force.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...ust-part-deal/
