The Battle Now Is Over Legal Immigration

NBC News: “After years of high-profile debates over a border wall and a path to citizenship, the biggest obstacle to a bipartisan deal on DACA is quickly becoming legal immigration, an issue where President Donald Trump has presided over a monumental shift in the GOP’s approach. Both sides have given ground elsewhere. A new proposal by the White House on Thursday would cede significant ground on ‘Dreamers,’ with a path to citizenship for up to 1.8 million people brought to the United States illegally as children. It also asks for $25 billion for a wall, which Democrats (at least briefly) had already suggested they would fund to a substantial degree.”

“On legal immigration, though, the proposal puts them miles apart. It reflects a fundamental and growing ideological divide between Democrats and many Republicans who view immigration as a net good and Trump and his allies, who have depicted immigrants as an unwanted burden and threatening presence. The White House is currently demanding that a deal on DACA recipients eliminate the diversity visa lottery — which issues 50,000 green cards a year in countries with few immigrants to the United States — along with family immigration categories for siblings and parents.”