The Senate blocked four immigration proposals Thursday, deepening a bitter impasse over how to protect 1.8 million young undocumented immigrants from deportation.
The rejected proposals included a bipartisan measure that would provide $25 billion for border security and a path to citizenship for the young immigrants, a plan the White House threatened to veto amid harsh criticism by President Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Homeland Security. It failed to advance 54-45, with 60 needed.
A separate measure that lost on a 39-60 vote reflected the president’s proposals, which included citizenship and border funds while also ending a diversity visa lottery and imposing strict limits on family-based migration.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement it would encourage “millions of additional minors to be smuggled into the United States” and is “dangerous policy that will harm the nation.” In return, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York called Trump “obstinate” and said the president “has stood in the way of every single proposal that has had a chance of becoming law.”
Trump Administration Eviscerates Bipartisan Immigration Plan as Senate Shows Little Progress
The Trump administration offered venomous criticism of a bipartisan immigration plan Thursday, as senators struggled to reach a consensus on a bill to protect young immigrants from deportation and boost border security. The Senate later blocked that measure and another favored by President Donald Trump.
The White House and Department of Homeland Security eviscerated the proposal put forth by 16 bipartisan senators, threatening a veto from Trump if it would have passed Congress. Trump had put his weight behind a separate GOP bill before the Senate, which mirrors the president’s immigration demands. Republican leaders argued the president’s framework has a better chance of passing the House.
The contentious back-and-forth came as the Senate moved no closer toward its goal of passing an immigration bill this week and protecting up to 1.8 million immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
ICE Arrests More Than 100 in Immigration Sweeps Across Southern California, L. A. Leader Calls it “All-Out Assault”
Federal immigration officials said Wednesday they have arrested more than 100 people who are in violation of immigration laws as part of an ongoing operation in the Los Angeles area that began Sunday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman Sarah Rodriguez said their Los Angeles-area team is targeting about 400 people across the seven counties they cover. ICE officials said in a statement that they are focusing on “individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security.”
“This means that, ideally, we are working with local police and county jails to identify public safety threats in their custody, who are also in the country illegally, for deportation,” the agency said in a statement. “Sanctuary cities are not immune from federal law,” officials said in the statement.
