Trump to propose immigration deal to end shutdown

His remarks Saturday will mark an attempt to reopen negotiations to end the 29-day impasse.

By ELIANA JOHNSON and BURGESS EVERETT

01/19/2019 12:23 PM EST

President Donald Trump is expected to propose a broad immigration compromise intended to force Democrats back to the negotiating table, an attempt to break a shutdown stalemate that entered its fifth week on Saturday.

Details of Trump's proposal will come in remarks at 4 p.m. from the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room. They’re likely to include increased protection for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients and an extension of Temporary Protected Status for the refugees who hold it, though sources cautioned that the details have yet to be finalized and could change at the last minute.

The president declined to offer details of his plan while speaking to reporters Saturday morning. He continued to play up the threat posed by caravans of migrants from Central America — “If we had a wall, we wouldn’t have a problem” — and then, moments later, said the building of the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is well underway.

“I think we’re making a lot of progress,” he said. “You know, we’re building wall as we speak. Nobody covers that. And I understand that. But we’re building wall as we speak, we’re going to continue.”

The president's latest attempt at a deal came together after White House senior adviser Jared Kushner reached out to Democratic senators, though there is no indication that those senators are supportive of the president's forthcoming proposal. But Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) along with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are cosponsors of the BRIDGE Act, which would protect DACA recipients from deportation for three years and grant them work authorization permits. Durbin has said he will only negotiate after the government has reopened.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/19/trump-government-shutdown-deal-1116049