(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Washington, D.C.—President Trump’s White House has said it will release a “legislative framework” on immigration and border security on Monday, January 29. According to media reports, the proposal calls for the establishment of a $25 billion border security “trust fund.” The White House is also demanding a series of draconian measures to crack down on immigration, ramp up deportations, and make an already-stringent asylum request process even harder for children and families fleeing violence. In return, the White House offers protections for up to 1.8 million recipients or eligible recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, known as “Dreamers.”
“The Trump administration is trying to trade the future of ‘Dreamers’ for these costly and cruel policies,” said Adam Isacson, Director for Defense Oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). “They’re imposing hardline proposals on the wall and immigration by holding the livelihood of Dreamers hostage. The Dreamers never asked to be used as a bargaining chip in Trump’s fight for his colossally wasteful, multi-billion dollar wall.”
“President Trump’s proposal will deepen the crisis he himself has created over immigration policy,” said Geoff Thale, Vice President for Programs at WOLA. “It broadly expands deportation forces, upends our immigration system, and ignores people who have a legitimate case for protection, including some 250,000 people who are getting kicked out of the United States after living here and paying taxes for decades under the Temporary Protected Status program.”
Explore WOLA’s resources on the ongoing fight over immigration and border security in Washington:
