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The White House has told congressional leadership that the occupier of the Oval Office would be open to a border wall/Dreamer trade in the upcoming omnibus funding bill that has to pass by the end of next week to keep government open. Like we haven't heard that before.
White House officials have told key Republican leaders on Capitol Hill that President Trump is open to cutting a deal in an upcoming spending bill to protect young immigrants from deportation in exchange for border wall funding, according to four GOP officials briefed on the talks.
The offer could represent a significant shift for Trump, who in January insisted on a much broader package of immigration restrictions in exchange for any protections for "dreamers"—the young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children, some of whom have been protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that Trump canceled in September.
It could be a significant shift, or it could be Trump jerking everybody's chain again, since he's just as likely to reject any potential deal the next time someone asks him. Here's the primary reason for skepticism that a good deal good happen: "Talks are being led by senior policy adviser Stephen Miller and legislative affairs head Marc Short, according to the people familiar with the conversations."
Anything involving immigration and noted xenophobe Stephen Miller is unlikely to be happening in good faith, and is not going to end well for Dreamers.
Update: And here’s why we’re skeptical. Within a few hours of that report in the Washington Post, this from AP.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says it doesn’t favor an immigration agreement with Congress that would involve extending for three years protections for young immigrants facing deportation in exchange for three years’ of border wall funding.
They won’t accept anything real.