Democrats on Tuesday attacked Senate Republican’s attempt to compromise over government funding — a bill which included temporarily extended protections for “Dreamer” immigrants but funds the much-needed U.S. border wall.
It’s a compromise even former President Barack Obama once championed — but because of their hatred for President Donald Trump, Democrats refused to even consider it.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the GOP compromise on illegal immigration proposals were “even more radical” than in the past.
McConnell accused Democrats of preferring “political combat with the president” to resolving the partial federal shutdown, which stretched into its 33rd day Wednesday. He said Democrats were prepared to abandon federal workers, migrants and all Americans “just to extend this run of political theater so they can look like champions of the so-called resistance” against Trump.
The confrontational tone underscored the fact that there is no clear end in sight to the closure.
The White House views its latest offer as a test of whether Democratic leaders can hold their members together in opposition. The administration also wants to show they are willing to negotiate, hoping it will push more blame onto Democrats, who are refusing all negotiations until the government reopens. Public polls show Trump is taking the brunt of the blame from voters so far.
“How long are they going to continue to be obstructionists and not solve the problem and not reopen the government?” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders asked of Democrats.
McConnell’s bill largely reflects the proposal Trump described to the nation in a brief address Saturday. It would reopen federal agencies, revamp immigration laws and provide $5.7 billion to start building his prized border wall with Mexico — a project Democrats refuse to consider, despite funding similar projects at least twice under Obama.
As a compromise, the measure would provide a three-year extension of protections against deportation for 700,000 people covered by the Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Democrats are demanding more, and won’t negotiate until the program’s coverage for so-called “Dreamers” is permanent.
The GOP bill would revive, for three years, protections for people from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua who have claimed asylum. Trump has ended that Temporary Protected Status program for those and several other countries, citing regular abuse of the system meant for refugees.
Republicans estimated the proposal would let 325,000 people remain in the U.S. But the GOP proposal does contain new curbs, providing those protections only to those who are already in the U.S. legally and who earn at least 125 percent of the federal poverty limit.
The bill would also, for the first time, require minors seeking asylum from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to process their applications at facilities the State Department would establish in several Central American countries, not at the U.S. border. Other new conditions include a limit of 15,000 of these minors who could be granted asylum.
Currently, many asylum seekers apply as they’re illegally entering the U.S. and are allowed to remain here as judges decide their request, which can take several years.
As a sweetener, the Republican measure also contains $12.7 billion for foreign regions hit by hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters.
One White House official said Trump was open to counter-offers from Democrats. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, said Trump was also willing to use his proposed temporary extensions for “Dreamers” as a way to seek long-term deal.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.