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President Trump Proposed Fixing DACA and Cutting Legal Immigration. Both Sides Hate the Plan

2 minute read

President Donald Trump’s immigration plan has been denounced by both hardline conservatives and pro-immigration activists.

Introduced in the wake of the government shutdown, the proposal would offer a 12-year path to citizenship for 1.8 million immigrants who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children. That’s more than double the number protected under the Obama-era executive program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which the Trump Administration is winding down.

The plan also allocates $25 billion for a wall along the country’s southern border and additional security protections in the region. It would also curtail what Republicans have called “chain migration,” prohibiting green cards for the siblings and parents of immigrants.

Trump’s so-called “base” — the hardline right-wingers who vehemently oppose what they call “amnesty” in immigration policy — have rallied against the plan’s accommodations to Dreamers. Breitbart News, the outlet previously helmed by former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, has jeered at “Don’s Amnesty Bonanza,” reprinting claims that the deal is “the beginning of the end of the G.O.P. majority in the House.”

On the other end of the spectrum, however, the plan faces widespread condemnation for what many say amounts to a drastic crackdown on immigration rights. They say the DACA solution is a red herring that obfuscates the plan’s “anti-immigrant wish list,” as Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said on Twitter.

The American Civil Liberties Union described the plan as a “hateful proposal” that “would slash legal immigration to levels not seen since the racial quotas of the 1920s.”

“The only community that benefits from this supposed generosity are white supremacists,” the organization said.

“Let’s call this proposal for what it is: a white supremacist ransom note,” Greisa Martinez Rosas, advocacy director for the immigration action group United We Dream, said in a statement. “Trump and (White House adviser) Stephen Miller killed DACA and created the crisis that immigrant youth are facing.”

The plan’s future in Congress remains uncertain. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer rejected the proposal on Friday, saying it “flies in the face of what most Americans believe.”

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