There's no dealing with Trump. So a long-term plan to save the 'dreamers' is taking shape.
Source: Washington Post
There’s no dealing with Trump. So a long-term plan to save the ‘dreamers’ is taking shape.
By Greg Sargent
Opinion writer
January 2 at 3:11 PM
President Trump, who appears to think nobody will remember anything he has said and done on immigration during the last year, said Wednesday that he’s open to negotiating over a path to legalization for young immigrants brought here illegally as children.
This builds on a claim several days ago by Senator Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) that Trump signaled to him that he’s “very open-minded” about reaching some kind of deal protecting the “dreamers," in exchange for money for his wall.
Thankfully, most signs are that Democrats and immigration advocates are treating this as the knee-slapping absurdity that it is. Instead, in behind-the-scenes talks, the bare outline of a long-term plan to save the dreamers is beginning to take shape.
Later this afternoon, top Democrats are set to meet with Trump about the shutdown. Demonstrating the good faith and sincere commitment to give-and-take problem-solving that we’ve all come to expect from Trump, he set the table for this meeting by telling a series of lies about immigration, falsely claiming that much of the wall is already being built and that Mexico is already paying for it, while vastly inflating the number of undocumented immigrants in this country.
That alone is more evidence that there’s no negotiating with Trump. And let’s remember the history: A year ago, Democrats offered Trump $25 billion for his wall in exchange for legalizing the dreamers, but Stephen Miller got Trump to walk away because the deal didn’t include huge cuts to legal immigration, which is the real Trump-Miller holy grail. At present, there’s no reason for anyone to assume the right doesn’t still have this veto power over any deal that doesn’t cut legal immigration or that Trump would ever accept one.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/02/theres-no-dealing-with-trump-so-long-term-plan-save-dreamers-is-taking-shape/
