Trump Border Proposal: Does Durbin Agree with Durbin?

The big news item for yesterday was obviously the speech by President Trump offering a detailed proposal to the Democrats to end the nearly month-long partial government shutdown.

The impasse, of course, is the result of the refusal of the Democrats to authorize any funding whatsoever for additional physical barriers to illegal immigration on the southern border.

In his speech delivered from the White House, President Trump offered a possible solution to the shutdown that included $5.7 billion in funding for border fencing, in exchange for some concessions to proposals Democrats have previously supported.

The President offered Democats a number of concessions such as  increased protections for DACA recipients, along with a number of proposals to fund items such as humanitarian concerns at the border, additional border agents and immigration judges, and increases to technology at ports of entry designed to reduce the influx of deadly drugs.

All of these policy items have been advocated by Democrats in their public statements over past weeks as possible alternative solutions to the border crisis.

Of course, all of this is probably well known to informed readers such as those at Sparta Report.

Of interest to me, and what may not be widely known, is that the DACA concessions offered by President Trump were identical to those previously offered by Democrat Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois.

In April of 2017, Sen. Durbin co-sponsored legislation, along with Sen. Lindsay Graham, the BRIDGE Act, which mirrors the DACA proposals made by President Trump yesterday.

Not to be confused with the DREAM Act, which grants DACA recipients a method to receive permanent legal status and a pathway to citizenship, the BRIDGE Act grants DACA recipients only a three year temporary legal status while negotiations over a permanent solution continue in Congress.

A good summary of the BRIDGE and DREAM Acts can be seen here:

https://www.nilc.org/issues/immigration-reform-and-executive-actions/faq-bridge-act/

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“Despite co-sponsoring the BRIDGE Act legislation, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said in a statement Saturday that he would not support the upcoming proposal to reopen the government.

“First, President Trump and Senate Majority Leader McConnell must open the government today. Second, I cannot support the proposed offer as reported and do not believe it can pass the Senate. Third, I am ready to sit down at any time after the government is opened and work to resolve all outstanding issues,” Durbin said.”

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/national/house-democrats-to-propose-1-billion-for-border-security-without-money-for-wall

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So do you support the bill you co-sponsored just over a year ago, or not, Senator Durbin?

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