Lawmakers in both parties said Sunday that the immigration debate should focus narrowly on efforts to legalize young immigrants known as “dreamers” and beef up border security, suggesting that President Trump’s demands to slash legal immigration levels are likely to sink a deal. and Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) — who have proposed a House bill to provide legal status to dreamers and bolster border security — agreed that addressing the legal immigration system in the negotiations over dreamers is implausible. So far, they are not showing the same leadership.”Congressional efforts at comprehensive immigration reform failed under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. “It’s offensive for a number of reasons just on pure policy,” Greg Chen, director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said of the president’s bid to slash family immigration. “It takes us back generations, to a time of far more restrictive immigration at the turn of the 20th century.

Source: Washington Post January 28, 2018 23:48 UTC