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Donald Trump took a break from live-tweeting Fox & Friends in a bathrobe and appeared in person to spout his usual nonsense about what it’ll take for him to agree to an immigration deal, and we all know just how very good he is at deals:
Trump said he opposes any immigration legislation that doesn’t include “a real wall” along the Mexican border and “very strong border security.”
Moderate House Republicans are pushing a deal that could lead to citizenship for young “Dreamer” immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally. But Trump told “Fox & Friends” in an interview that aired Thursday that unless a bill “includes a wall, and I mean a wall, a real wall, and unless it includes very strong border security, there’ll be no approvals from me.”
Weird, because he was touting “construction” just last month, despite the fact that Congress hasn’t authorized it. He actually had his chance a few months before that, when he rejected a deal that would have give him $25 billion in change for permanent protections for Dreamers, but White House aide and white supremacist Stephen Miller just couldn’t have that. Anyway, the real story here is the discharge petition currently making Paul Ryan sweat:
Moderates trying to force votes on the issue gained their 21st GOP signature Wednesday. With just four more, they should be able to overcome leadership objections and have votes on immigration bills in late June. House leaders plan a pivotal closed-door GOP immigration meeting on June 7.
It’s a long-shot effort, but it’s fared far better than a 2014 effort, and there’s enough Republican support to buck Ryan once and for all and get this done. Immigrant youth have been waiting enough already. “In Illinois,” the Sun-Times Editorial Board said in pressuring House Republicans Mike Bost, Rodney Davis, John Shimkus and Darin LaHood to sign, “there are 36,740 immigrants in DACA. That’s 36,740 reasons for Illinois Republicans to sign the petition and force a vote.”