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Speaking from Camp David, where he is meeting with top Republicans, Trump told reporters, "We want the wall. The wall's gong to happen or we're not going to have DACA," referring to a legislative solution for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program that afforded protections to undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as youth, and which Trump ended in September.
In addition to wanting to get rid of so-called chain migration and the lottery system ("they're not sending us their finest," he argued), Trump said, "We want some money for funding. We need some additional border security." All those items, he said, should be in the same legislation.
His comments from the Maryland retreat come hours after a group of senators received a document detailing the administration's border security plan, which includes asking Congress for almost $18 billion to construct border fencing, despite Trump saying Saturday, "Mexico will pay, in some form" for the wall.
According to the Wall Street Journal, that $18 billion is just part of $33 billion in overall border security measures, which include drones and more agents.
As Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in a statement--and other advocacy groups noted as well--the plan mirrors one the White House released in October. At the time, that list, said to be the work of White House policy adviser Stephen Miller, was denounced as "red meat for xenophobic extremists."
"We've seen this wish list before," said Greisa Martinez Rosas, advocacy director for United We Dream. "We saw it on Steve Bannon's infamous white board, we've seen it repeatedly from Jeff Sessions and Steven Miller over the years, and we saw it in October of last year when [the] White House tried to derail progress with a previous version of an anti-immigrant wish list."
Saying she's not "not a bargaining chip for Stephen Miller's vendetta against brown and black people," Martinez Rosas, a potential beneficiary of the Dream Act, added, "Trump said he wants to reach a solution but this is a tactic of people who want to blow up progress, not of people who are serious about solving problems."
"Congress must pass a spending bill by January 19th," she said of the deadline for Congress, "and both parties must make sure that the Dream Act is a part of it."
For Durbin, one of the senators who received the border plan, the president's demands could lead to a shutdown. "It's outrageous that the White House would undercut months of bipartisan efforts by again trying to put its entire wish-list of hardline anti-immigrant bills--plus an additional $18 billion in wall funding--on the backs of these young people."
The plan was also met with outrage by the ACLU, which said the potential expanded wall would serve as "an egotistical monument to the Trump administration's intolerance and irrationality."
Echoing United We Dream, Astrid Dominguez, director of the ACLU's Regional Center for Border Rights, said lawmakers should "focus on real issues like passing the Dream Act and denouncing as a non-starter the folly of squandering $33 billion on measures that would further oppress border communities."
Some lawmakers have taken to Twitter to denounce the resurfaced plan and Trump's vow to use of Dreamers as "bargaining chips":
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |

Speaking from Camp David, where he is meeting with top Republicans, Trump told reporters, "We want the wall. The wall's gong to happen or we're not going to have DACA," referring to a legislative solution for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program that afforded protections to undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as youth, and which Trump ended in September.
In addition to wanting to get rid of so-called chain migration and the lottery system ("they're not sending us their finest," he argued), Trump said, "We want some money for funding. We need some additional border security." All those items, he said, should be in the same legislation.
His comments from the Maryland retreat come hours after a group of senators received a document detailing the administration's border security plan, which includes asking Congress for almost $18 billion to construct border fencing, despite Trump saying Saturday, "Mexico will pay, in some form" for the wall.
According to the Wall Street Journal, that $18 billion is just part of $33 billion in overall border security measures, which include drones and more agents.
As Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in a statement--and other advocacy groups noted as well--the plan mirrors one the White House released in October. At the time, that list, said to be the work of White House policy adviser Stephen Miller, was denounced as "red meat for xenophobic extremists."
"We've seen this wish list before," said Greisa Martinez Rosas, advocacy director for United We Dream. "We saw it on Steve Bannon's infamous white board, we've seen it repeatedly from Jeff Sessions and Steven Miller over the years, and we saw it in October of last year when [the] White House tried to derail progress with a previous version of an anti-immigrant wish list."
Saying she's not "not a bargaining chip for Stephen Miller's vendetta against brown and black people," Martinez Rosas, a potential beneficiary of the Dream Act, added, "Trump said he wants to reach a solution but this is a tactic of people who want to blow up progress, not of people who are serious about solving problems."
"Congress must pass a spending bill by January 19th," she said of the deadline for Congress, "and both parties must make sure that the Dream Act is a part of it."
For Durbin, one of the senators who received the border plan, the president's demands could lead to a shutdown. "It's outrageous that the White House would undercut months of bipartisan efforts by again trying to put its entire wish-list of hardline anti-immigrant bills--plus an additional $18 billion in wall funding--on the backs of these young people."
The plan was also met with outrage by the ACLU, which said the potential expanded wall would serve as "an egotistical monument to the Trump administration's intolerance and irrationality."
Echoing United We Dream, Astrid Dominguez, director of the ACLU's Regional Center for Border Rights, said lawmakers should "focus on real issues like passing the Dream Act and denouncing as a non-starter the folly of squandering $33 billion on measures that would further oppress border communities."
Some lawmakers have taken to Twitter to denounce the resurfaced plan and Trump's vow to use of Dreamers as "bargaining chips":

Speaking from Camp David, where he is meeting with top Republicans, Trump told reporters, "We want the wall. The wall's gong to happen or we're not going to have DACA," referring to a legislative solution for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program that afforded protections to undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as youth, and which Trump ended in September.
In addition to wanting to get rid of so-called chain migration and the lottery system ("they're not sending us their finest," he argued), Trump said, "We want some money for funding. We need some additional border security." All those items, he said, should be in the same legislation.
His comments from the Maryland retreat come hours after a group of senators received a document detailing the administration's border security plan, which includes asking Congress for almost $18 billion to construct border fencing, despite Trump saying Saturday, "Mexico will pay, in some form" for the wall.
According to the Wall Street Journal, that $18 billion is just part of $33 billion in overall border security measures, which include drones and more agents.
As Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in a statement--and other advocacy groups noted as well--the plan mirrors one the White House released in October. At the time, that list, said to be the work of White House policy adviser Stephen Miller, was denounced as "red meat for xenophobic extremists."
"We've seen this wish list before," said Greisa Martinez Rosas, advocacy director for United We Dream. "We saw it on Steve Bannon's infamous white board, we've seen it repeatedly from Jeff Sessions and Steven Miller over the years, and we saw it in October of last year when [the] White House tried to derail progress with a previous version of an anti-immigrant wish list."
Saying she's not "not a bargaining chip for Stephen Miller's vendetta against brown and black people," Martinez Rosas, a potential beneficiary of the Dream Act, added, "Trump said he wants to reach a solution but this is a tactic of people who want to blow up progress, not of people who are serious about solving problems."
"Congress must pass a spending bill by January 19th," she said of the deadline for Congress, "and both parties must make sure that the Dream Act is a part of it."
For Durbin, one of the senators who received the border plan, the president's demands could lead to a shutdown. "It's outrageous that the White House would undercut months of bipartisan efforts by again trying to put its entire wish-list of hardline anti-immigrant bills--plus an additional $18 billion in wall funding--on the backs of these young people."
The plan was also met with outrage by the ACLU, which said the potential expanded wall would serve as "an egotistical monument to the Trump administration's intolerance and irrationality."
Echoing United We Dream, Astrid Dominguez, director of the ACLU's Regional Center for Border Rights, said lawmakers should "focus on real issues like passing the Dream Act and denouncing as a non-starter the folly of squandering $33 billion on measures that would further oppress border communities."
Some lawmakers have taken to Twitter to denounce the resurfaced plan and Trump's vow to use of Dreamers as "bargaining chips":