Iran Press/America: US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a new plan to end the government shutdown, offering temporary protection from deportations for some undocumented immigrants in exchange for $5.7 billion in wall funding, CNN reported.
But Democrats swiftly rejected the proposal, which also includes millions of dollars for humanitarian aid and drug detection technology, and called on Trump to open the government before negotiations on immigration could start.
Earlier on January 10, Trump walked out of discussions to end a partial government shutdown in Situation Room of White House, calling the talks with congressional Democrats 'a total waste of time.'
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US President delivered a short speech from the White House in an attempt to shift the political dynamics of the longest government shutdown in history after polls showed that he was getting most of the blame. He had previously said he would be 'proud' to close down the government in the wall fight.
He offered a three-year reprieve from deportation to undocumented migrants brought to the US as children who are covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and to people from certain nations who qualify for Temporary Protected Status.
"This is a common-sense compromise both parties should embrace," Trump said, apparently seeking to portray himself as a deal maker taking the initiative to end a record-long shutdown now in its 29th day that has left 800,000 federal workers without a paycheck.
He also appeared to offer a concession on the characteristics of his border wall-one of his most iconic political goals. He described the wall as a 'strategic' deployment of physical barriers or a wall. This is not a 2000-mile concrete structure from sea to shining sea. These are steel barriers in high priority locations.
The shutdown was triggered by Trump’s demand that Congress allocate more than $5bn in taxpayer money to build a wall along the 2,000-mile border between the US and Mexico–a concession Democrats refuse to make.
US President notably did not mention the plight of federal workers going without paychecks, some of whom fear they may not be able to make a mortgage, rent or car payments, or are relying on food banks.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not even wait for the speech to reject the proposal. She said it was a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable and in total, do not represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people's lives."
"It is unlikely that any one of these provisions alone would pass the House, and taken together, they are a non-starter. For one thing, this proposal does not include the permanent solution for the Dreamers and TPS recipients that our country needs and supports," Pelosi said in a statement.
Trump threatened on December 28 to close the country's southern border with Mexico if Congress doesn't fund his border wall. 208/103
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