Corker and Trump Breakup

The Trump administration has released its list of “legislative priorities” on immigration to the leadership and relevant committee chairs on Capitol Hill. Citing a review process that involved several departments and agencies, White House legislative director Marc Short told reporters Sunday evening the priorities tackle three major problems with the current immigration system: border security, internal enforcement of immigration laws, and chain migration.

To address these problems, the administration is calling on Congress to fund a border wall, close “legal loopholes” to border enforcement, provide more resources to immigration enforcement, and create a “merit-based” immigration system. “Now is the time for Congress to adopt these immigration priorities,” said Short.

In a letter submitting these to congressional leaders, President Donald Trump said the reforms and priorities “must be included as part of any legislation addressing the status of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. Without these reforms, illegal immigration and chain migration, which severely and unfairly burden American workers and taxpayers, will continue without end.”

This sounds like the end of the president’s deal last month with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, who claimed they had agreed with Trump on fixing the gap in the law filled by the DACA program (which the administration is winding down).

Schumer and Pelosi released a statement Sunday night blasting the Trump priorities. “We told the President at our meeting that we were open to reasonable border security measures alongside the DREAM Act, but this list goes far beyond what is reasonable,” the two Democrats said. “The list includes the wall, which was explicitly ruled out of the negotiations. If the President was serious about protecting the Dreamers, his staff has not made a good faith effort to do so.”