There’s growing concern about what the President is going to do with immigration. Some have criticized him for not just ending DACA and declaring victory. That’s a fair criticism, but the window he’s given Congress to deal with DACA provides him with a great bargaining chip.
He posted the following tweet today.
The Democrats have been told, and fully understand, that there can be no DACA without the desperately needed WALL at the Southern Border and an END to the horrible Chain Migration & ridiculous Lottery System of Immigration etc. We must protect our Country at all cost!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017
He’s basically saying that all of the anchor babies will be deported unless the Democrats agree to fully fund the wall, end chain migration, end the diversity lottery and fix much of the stupidity that is rampant in our immigration system. It’s a winning position no matter what happens. If the Democrats refuse a deal, the anchor babies get deported. If the Democrats decide to strike a deal, some of the major problems with the immigration system will get fixed.
Trump has also said that citizenship or amnesty has not been part of the discussion on DACA.
Politically, the Democrats are under pressure to make a deal. They’ll face great anger from their base if DACA ends. Remember when Nancy Pelosi was protested by all those anchor babies?
We’ll see what happens, but I don’t think Trump is going to do anything with DACA unless major fixes to the immigration system are a part of the deal. Anything less would be political suicide with the base.