THE HUNDREDS of thousands of young undocumented immigrants who have grown up in this country, having been brought here by their parents as children, are known as "Dreamers." But the real dreamer is President Trump if he thinks Congress will appropriate the billions of dollars he wants for his border wall - the one he claimed Mexico would pay for - even as he refuses any reasonable compromise to provide permanent legal status for those young migrants.
The window is narrow and the odds long, but the president could exercise his influence over the soon-to-disappear Republican majority in the House to press for a deal that would trade substantial funding for border security - including portions of a wall - for legislation that would assure a stable future for the dreamers.
A straightforward swap of wall funding for a dreamer fix should be an easy sell to the president's base.
Three-quarters of Republicans support giving dreamers a path to citizenship, and roughly the same percentage back the president on the wall, according to a recent Gallup poll.
Democrats almost unanimously favor citizenship or at least legal status for the dreamers, and, while few of them want a border wall, many might accept significant funding for one if it meant removing the risk of deportation faced by well more than a million dreamers.
During the lame-duck session in 2010, Congress managed to enact an array of measures - though it narrowly failed to pass the Dream Act, which would have provided a path to citizenship for the dreamers.
Now, both sides have a greater impetus for a deal - Democrats, because the Supreme Court may well uphold Mr. Trump's decision to rescind Obama-era work permits and protection from deportation for dreamers; and Republicans, because hopes for a border wall are likely to vanish next year with the arrival of the House's incoming Democratic majority.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/make-a-wall-for-dreamers-deal-congress-the-clock-is-ticking/2018/12/02/c6081c08-e9de-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.de24804e64f6
The window is narrow and the odds long, but the president could exercise his influence over the soon-to-disappear Republican majority in the House to press for a deal that would trade substantial funding for border security - including portions of a wall - for legislation that would assure a stable future for the dreamers.
A straightforward swap of wall funding for a dreamer fix should be an easy sell to the president's base.
Three-quarters of Republicans support giving dreamers a path to citizenship, and roughly the same percentage back the president on the wall, according to a recent Gallup poll.
Democrats almost unanimously favor citizenship or at least legal status for the dreamers, and, while few of them want a border wall, many might accept significant funding for one if it meant removing the risk of deportation faced by well more than a million dreamers.
During the lame-duck session in 2010, Congress managed to enact an array of measures - though it narrowly failed to pass the Dream Act, which would have provided a path to citizenship for the dreamers.
Now, both sides have a greater impetus for a deal - Democrats, because the Supreme Court may well uphold Mr. Trump's decision to rescind Obama-era work permits and protection from deportation for dreamers; and Republicans, because hopes for a border wall are likely to vanish next year with the arrival of the House's incoming Democratic majority.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/make-a-wall-for-dreamers-deal-congress-the-clock-is-ticking/2018/12/02/c6081c08-e9de-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.de24804e64f6
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