President Trumps Lays Out Conditions To Back DACA
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Congress outlining what he's looking for in exchange for protecting DACA recipients, immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, from deportation.
In the letter outlining his 70-point immigration plan, Trump told Congress the DACA deal must include full funding for his border wall, a crackdown on sanctuary cities, impose new skills-based legal immigration criteria and speed up deportation procedures.
"For years, this country, including Capitol Hill and the swamp, they've always asked 'what more can we do for the illegal immigrant? what's fair for the illegal immigrant?' This president is asking, 'What's fair for America? What's fair to the American worker? What's fair to the American community?'" senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
The president has long taken a hard-line stance on immigration and many of his supporters view DACA as amnesty for illegal immigration.
However, the move appears to back off a deal the president struck with Democrats at a White House meeting last month.
Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi issued a joint response saying the proposals "go far beyond what is reasonable. This proposal fails to represent any attempt at compromise." And they said funding for the wall "was explicitly ruled out of negotiations."
Democrats say they are willing to work with the White House to strengthen border security, including implementing new technology and hiring more border patrol agents.
Building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border is projected to cost $25 billion.