Day 356: Trump Immigration Meeting Creates More Questions Than Answers
In a meeting designed to help move the public perception of Donald Trump from unstable madman to genius dealmaker, bipartisan members of the Senate and House sat down to try and figure out a path forward on DACA and immigration reform.
Things started to get especially muddy when Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), suggested a stand-alone Dream Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for DACA recipients, before turning to large-scale immigration reform.
When Trump indicated he would agree to that, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said border security would have to be part of the package, prompting Trump to say that’s what he thought Feinstein meant, and then a flurry of clarifications.
Trump said his version of a “clean” deal would include DACA, border security, ending “chain migration” or family-based migration, and ending the diversity visa lottery. But those issues are commonly thought to only be achievable in a comprehensive immigration deal.
Trump then both endorsed doing comprehensive immigration reform sooner and later.
Trump seems to be unaware that, by its own definition, a “clean” bill would be narrow and simple. By seeking to figure out border security, the family visa system and diversity visa lottery within the same legislation, the bill becomes especially complicated and unlikely to garner bipartisan support.
While Trump seems to want to get deals done to add to his policy achievements, he continues to overlook the complexities of such agreements, noting, “I don’t think it’s going to be that complicated.” Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), meanwhile, pointed out to Trump that the administration’s own self-imposed deadline for a deal, March 5, would be quite difficult to achieve.
The meeting served an important purpose for congressional Republicans, trying to steel themselves around flagging approval ratings as midterm elections are rapidly approaching.
For Republicans, the spectacle allowed the public to see what they often privately complained about during the health-care debate — an inconsistent president who would change his mind from one conversation to the next and leave everyone feeling he agreed with their position.
Eventually, despite all the campaigning and public bluster, Trump admitted he had no policy inclinations one way or another, saying, “I think my positions are going to be what the people in this room come up with. If they come to me with things I’m not in love with, I’m going to do it. Because I respect them.”
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), seemed to have just as many questions after the meeting as he did before it:
“It got confusing at times, in fact he said later, ‘I just want a clean DACA and we’ll do a comprehensive later,’ and some of us said, ‘Whoa, what do you mean by that?’ And he came back to [border security, chain migration, the visa lottery, and DACA policy].”
One thing became clear: Trump will not be able to lead the way during the immigration discussion.
356 days in, 1106 to go
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