To Avert a Shutdown are DACA and "Border Wall" Linked?

We mentioned in a previous post about averting a government shutdown until that Congress had forestalled this until a fast approaching January 19th deadline.   Negotiations around what it will take to get avert another shutdown are underway.    It appears that President Trump is willing to extend the Obama era DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program.   In return, the President wants tightened border security.   Congressional Republicans that attended the negotiations are saying the Border Wall will look more like a fence.

Trump Appears to Endorse Path to Citizenship for Millions of Immigrants By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG New York Times WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday appeared open to negotiating a sweeping immigration deal that would eventually grant millions of undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship, declaring that he was willing to “take the heat” politically for an approach that seemed to flatly contradict the anti-immigration stance that charged his political rise. The president made the remarks during an extended meeting with congressional Republicans and Democrats who are weighing a shorter-term agreement that would extend legal status for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. The 90-minute session — more than half of which played out on national television — appeared to produce some progress: Mr. Trump agreed to a framework for a short-term immigration deal to couple protection for young, undocumented immigrants with border security. But in suggesting that a broader immigration measure was possible next, Mr. Trump was giving a rare public glimpse of an impulse he has expressed privately to advisers and lawmakers — the desire to preside over a more far-reaching solution to the status of the 11 million undocumented immigrants already living and working in the United States. Passage of a comprehensive immigration law would give Mr. Trump success where Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush failed. <more>

Trump: Border wall must be part of DACA deal BY BRETT SAMUELS The Hill President Trump said Tuesday that he made clear during immigration negotiations with lawmakers that the country needs “the security of the Wall” on the U.S.-Mexico border and it "must be part of any" deal for certain young immigrants. "As I made very clear today, our country needs the security of the Wall on the Southern Border, which must be part of any DACA approval," Trump tweeted, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Trump has suggested a wall must be part of a deal that would include a legislative fix for the hundreds of thousands of immigrants affected by the Obama-era program. The president announced in September that he would rescind the program, which allows certain immigrants who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children to stay and work without fear of deportation. Trump's tweet came hours after he and congressional negotiators outlined the parameters of a potential deal during a meeting at the White House. As part of the outline, Trump and lawmakers agreed such a deal should protect so-called Dreamers from deportation, tighten security along the border, change how family relationships are weighted when granting legal status and reform the diversity visa lottery program.  “He’s made it clear that he’s not talking about a monolithic structure,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters. “He made the point that this could well be what other people cal a fence. I think he made the point that Border Patrol needs to be able to see through it.” <more>