Everybody in Washington is saying that everybody in Washington wants to find a permanent solution to the mess created when President Obama took executive action in creating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.<\/p>\n
But everyone in Washington has a different vision of what a \u201cdeal\u201d looks like and what will be included in any compromise.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump fired the first shot on Twitter with a declaration that \u201cthere 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Any legislation on DACA must secure the border with a wall, it must give our immigration officers the resources they need to stop illegal immigration, and also to stop these overstays,” Trump said on Thursday<\/a> after meeting with senators.<\/p>\n \u201cCrucially, this legislation must stop chain migration, and it must end the visa lottery and I think many of the Democrats agree with us on that,\u201d the president posited.<\/p>\n He stressed that immigration officers must have the \u201ctools and resources.\u201d<\/p>\n Amnesty advocates and supporters of the DACA program are calling for immediate action and are applying pressure on Democrats to demand a vote on DREAM Act before the short-term government spending resolution expires on January 19. Even three former homeland security officials published a letter<\/a> calling for a speedy resolution to the DACA issue.<\/p>\n The White House, however, is not feeling the pressure yet.<\/p>\n White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters<\/a> in her Wednesday briefing that a deal could come in January month, but whether a deal is made at all depends on Democrats.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, we\u2019d like to make a deal on securing funding for the border wall as well as ending chain migration, ending the visa lottery program, interior enforcement.\u00a0 We\u2019d like to do that right away.\u00a0 So if the Democrats are willing to sit down and make that deal, I think we\u2019d be happy to get that done by the end of the month,\u201d responded Sanders.<\/p>\n Democratic leaders in the Senate indicated this week they are unwilling to step away from their opposition to a border wall and would sink the ship over the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe in border security,\u201d said<\/a> Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) before offering a potentially deal-killing caveat. \u201cIf our Republican colleagues and the president engage in good faith in that negotiation — without unreasonable demands like the absurdly expensive and ineffective border wall that publicly many Republicans oppose and privately many more do,\u201d the minority leader argued, referring to the border wall he<\/p>\n Even an original member of the Gang of Eight – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) \u2013 countered that Schumer was being unreasonable.<\/p>\n