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Anti-immigrant hardliner Stephen Miller, a Trump senior adviser for policy, pictured at the White House, January 30, 2017. (Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

Trump Proposal on Dreamers Nothing But 'Red Meat for Xenophobic Extremists'

"Congress should reject this warped, anti-immigrant policy wish list," says Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), vice chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus

Jon Queally

"These aren't principles. This is red meat for xenophobic extremists."

So stated the National Immigration Law Center (NLIC) on Sunday evening after the White House issued a list of hardline policies it wants in exchange for making the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program—known legislatively as the Dream Act—permanent.

"When you make an offer you know the other side simply cannot agree to, it is evidence that you don’t actually want a deal." —Marielena Hincapié, NLIC

Though undocumented immigrants who receive DACA protections have consistently said they would not stand for being used as "bargaining chips" in a legislative deal between Congress and President Donald Trump. And despite public posturing that he would "compromise" with Democratic lawmakers to pass a bipartisan solution, Trump's demands laid out Sunday night—including funding for a border wall, expanded detention policies, and increased restrictions on child refugees trying to seek asylum in the U.S.—make it clear the administration is interested only in riling up the Republican Party's anti-immigrant base.

Many saw Stephen Miller, a senior policy adviser to Trump and a staunch anti-immigrant xenophobe, as the chief architect of the proposal.

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), vice chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said that "Congress should reject this warped, anti-immigrant policy wish list. The White House wants to use dreamers as bargaining chips to achieve the administration's deportation and detention goals."

In a series of eleven tweets, the NLIC's executive director Marielena Hincapié explained everything wrong with the White House proposal:

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