WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was up early Tuesday morning to tout his proposals on immigration and infrastructure as they face uncertain prospects in Congress.
In a tweet Tuesday, Mr. Trump asserted that Democrats and Republicans must act now to provide legal protections to young “Dreamer” immigrants in the U.S. illegally. He wrote, “This will be our last chance, there will never be another opportunity! March 5th.”
The president was referring to deadline he imposed, which says the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program protecting young immigrants from deportation would end. However, a recent court ruling has rendered that deadline meaningless.
Senate Republican and Democratic leaders say it’s going to be tough to broker a successful deal on immigration policy, though CBS News’ Nancy Cordes reports that it’s possible the Senate could be voting on amendments as soon as Tuesday afternoon. In addition to protections for “Dreamers,” President Trump also wants $25 billion for a border wall with Mexico and other security measures, as well as curbs on legal immigration. Many Democrats consider some of the proposals, including limiting the relatives that legal immigrants can bring to the U.S., to be anathema.
Trump also tweeted on his $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan, writing that “after many years we have taken care of our Military, now we have to fix our roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and more. Bipartisan, make deal Dems?”
Still, the president has sent mixed messages on his commitment to the proposal, telling state and local officials at a White House meeting Monday that “if you don’t want it, that’s OK with me too.”
The administration’s plan is centered on using $200 billion in federal money to leverage more than $1 trillion in local and state tax dollars to fix America’s infrastructure, such as roads, highways, ports and airports.
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