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President Donald Trump has rejected the latest bipartisan proposal to codify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program into law. The bill from Sens. John McCain and Chris Coons would provide a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and authorize a review of border security. Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-highest-ranking Senate Democrat, said a DACA deal was unlikely before Thursday's deadline to pass a funding bill and avoid a government shutdown. Talks about the codification of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program have become disjointed, as President Donald Trump and House Republicans continue to push for hardline changes to legal immigration programs as part of the package while the Senate attempts to craft a skinnier deal. The federal government shutdown last month led to promises to find a permanent solution for the program, which is set to end on March 5. But as Congress seeks to avoid another shutdown by Thursday, there is no mention of immigration in the latest round of short-term funding legislation. The current plan address military funding, Medicare, and a few other smaller government programs, but makes no mention of immigration nor DACA. Separately, the latest bipartisan attempt at a DACA agreement, unveiled Monday from Sens. John McCain and Chris Coons, was quickly rejected by the White House, which cited its lack of funding specifically for a wall along the US-Mexico border and its narrower scope. The bill would give DACA recipients a pathway to citizenship and authorize a review of border-security needs, with no commitment to future funding. Trump seemed to take a swipe at the deal in a tweet on Monday. "Any deal on DACA that does not include STRONG border security and the desperately needed WALL is a total waste of time," Trump said. "March 5th is rapidly approaching and the Dems seem not to care about DACA. Make a deal!" Trump's attacks on the McCain-Coons bill echo his rejection of a previous bipartisan deal from Sens. Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin that included funding for increased border security. Lawmakers from both parties are attempting to preserve DACA, the Obama-era program that protects from deportation about 700,000 unauthorized immigrants who came to the US as children. Trump said in September that he would end the program, giving Congress six months to codify it into law. Both Trump and House Republicans are pushing for a bill that not only codifies DACA and funds the wall but tightens the family-reunification rules for immigrants and ends the Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery. Durbin, the Senate minority whip, has acknowledged that a deal is unlikely before the Thursday deadline to pass a new funding bill. "There is not likely to be a DACA deal, though we're working every single day, on telephone calls and person to person, to try to reach this bipartisan agreement," Durbin said Sunday on CNN. Last month, Senate Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, agreed to end the three-day government shutdown after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell committed to addressing DACA by the next deadline. Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/daca-immigration-border-wall-deal-shutdown-bill-2018-2

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on Wednesday evening that a bipartisan immigration agreement has the support of a majority of the Senate. "The math is simple. We have 56 senators ready to move forward with this issue," he said. Four GOP senators signed onto the "Gang of Six" proposal. In addition to GOP Sens. Linsey Graham (S.C.), Cory Gardner (Colo.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.) — who negotiated the deal—that brings the total number of Senate Republicans supporting the agreement to seven. Durbin's remarks would mean that he's gotten the support of the entire 49-member Democratic caucus. That would require winning over red state Democrats up for reelection next year as well as progressives and potential 2020 hopefuls, many of whom have pressed for a "clean" immigration bill. A spokesman for Durbin didn't immediately respond to a request for comment confirming the No. 2 Democrat had received the support from every member of his caucus. Asked earlier Wednesday if he thought he would be able to bring every Democrat on board, Durbin indicated that he thought they would. But 56 supporters still leaves the bill short of the 60 votes that are likely going to be needed to overcome a filibuster. It also doesn't have the support of GOP leadership or President Trump—which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has made a condition to getting a floor vote. Supporters of the bill—including Durbin, GOP Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.), and Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.) and Bob Menendez (N.J.)—pressed Senate leadership to bring up their bill in back-to-back floor speeches. "I do believe that we have a proposal that can get 60 votes. ...That's what this bill is designed to do. In the end, that's what it's going to take, 60 votes," Flake said. He added that "if we're waiting for the White House to come to us with a proposal that they can support, we're likely waiting for a long time. ...We have a proposal here that can garner enough support to pass the Senate. So let's move on with it." Durbin, referring to the higher 60-vote threshold, argued that the other four votes "are there." The bipartisan deal would tie a fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that includes a path to citizenship with more than $2.7 billion in border security, an elimination of the Diversity Visa Lottery and changes to family-based immigration. Link: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3...port-daca-deal