Where the parties - and voters - stand on immigration
What's the status of immigration negotiations?
Republicans were able to win Democratic votes to end the government shutdown, in part, by promising Democrats a vote on immigration – including the question of what to do with the roughly 800,000 "DREAMers" whose residency will be thrown into doubt come March because President Trump ended DACA, the program that previously shielded them from deportation.
President Trump has suggested he's open to granting permanent residency to the DREAMers (undocumented, law-abiding immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children). But the White House has demanded a series of other changes to the immigration system as well, including a border wall, reform of the "chain migration" system that enables family members of residents and citizens to come to the U.S., and a reform of the visa lottery system that allocates work and residency permits.
A bipartisan group of senators led by Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), and Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) put together a proposal that would have protected DREAMers and included a number of other reforms, including an end to the "diversity visa" lottery system, additional money for border security, and a provision barring the parents of DREAMers from chain migration.
The White House rejected that plan this week as "dead on arrival," however, arguing it didn't do enough to advance the president's priorities. (The president tweeted late Tuesday that Democrats understand "that if there is no wall, there is no DACA.")
A bipartisan group of 32 senators is scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon on Capitol Hill to begin crafting a path forward on the issue. The first deadline on their horizon is February 8 – that's when the current spending bill expires, and Democrats say they were promised a vote on DACA before that date. If the DREAMers remain in limbo beyond February 8, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday, "the Senate will immediately proceed to immigration, under a neutral process that's fair to all sides."
It's unclear whether House Republicans will act on DACA, though, regardless of what the Senate is able to pass. "Lindsey Graham does not get to speak out on behalf of the country," Conservative Virginia Rep. Dave Brat told The Daily Beast earlier this week. "...you've got majorities of one—Lindsey Graham—saying, 'I have a deal.' No you don't. You don't represent my district and you don't represent 450 other districts. You have a deal you would like."
What do Americans think?
A new poll from the Economist/YouGov found that voters trust Democrats over Republicans on the issue of immigration reform by a slim margin, 32 to 25 percent. Thirty-one percent said they trust neither party. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they believe illegal immigration is a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem.
The survey also asked respondents which party they believe is more concerned about the issues facing the DREAMers. Sixty-eight percent said congressional Democrats care "a lot" or "some." Only 38 percent said the same of Republicans, and 34 percent said the same of President Trump.
Fifty-five percent of voters told the Economist they were "strongly" or "somewhat" supportive of the DACA program, and residency for DREAMers. Only 30 percent said they were "strongly" or "somewhat" opposed to that policy. (For comparison's sake, in the latest CBS News poll, a far greater margin – 87 percent – said they favor allowing DREAMers to remain in the U.S.)
Finally, when it comes to building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, 39 percent of respondents in the Economist survey said they're supportive, while 45 percent said they're opposed. (In the latest CBS poll, 35 percent said they support building the wall, while 61 percent said they oppose it.)
The Economist/YouGov poll surveyed 1,500 Americans between January 21 and 23, and it has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percent. The CBS News poll surveyed 1,225 Americans between January 13 and 16, and it has a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.
