Author: Paul Bedard
Description: As Congress and the White House go back to the drawing board on immigration, the administration took a hard line against compromise plans pu...
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Washington Examiner
WASHINGTON SECRETS

# White House condemns compromise immigration bill, Harvard poll agrees

by Paul Bedard | Jan 22, 2018, 4:52 PM
Antonia Catalan marches outside of the office of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and Congress passing a clean Dream Act, Monday, Jan. 22, 2018, in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

As Congress and the White House go back to the drawing board on immigration, the administration took a hard line against compromise plans pushed by Senate moderates, and a new Harvard University poll backed up President Trump’s plan.

As the budget shutdown ended, the White House made good on its promise to consider immigration reform. Six Republican senators met with the president to begin the negotiations, according to spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.

But another spokesman decried a bipartisan compromise pushed by three senators not at the meeting, Sens. Lindsey Graham, Floyd Flake and Dick Durbin.

“Their plan totally fails to secure the border, and includes no legal authorities to stop illegal immigration which ensures a massive wave of new illegal immigration and new chain migration. The bill also maintains the visa lottery as another backdoor amnesty and chain migration program,” said Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley.

“The Flake-Graham-Durbin proposal embodies every reason Americans do not trust Washington. It puts people who are in this country unlawfully ahead of our own American citizens. The Trump Administration remains committed to bipartisan responsible immigration reform that truly secures the border and puts the interests of the American people first,” he added.

White House officials also distributed a Harvard-Harris poll that showed Americans generally approve of the president’s immigration plan, believe people should enter legally, and that those who are allowed in should contribute to American life in a positive way.

The poll was an endorsement of the president’s efforts, but not his overall handling of the issue. On that, 56 percent disapprove and 44 percent approve. But the following highlights buoyed is negotiators:

- 65% of voters favor (as opposed to only 35% who oppose) a Congressional deal that gives undocumented immigrants brought here by their parents work permits and a path to citizenship in exchange for increasing merit preference over preference for relatives, eliminating the diversity visa lottery, and funding barrier security on the U.S.-Mexico border.
- 60% of voters believe that children who were brought into this country illegally by their parents, many of whom are now in their 20s and 30s, should not be given preference for their parents and relatives to move to this country.
- 79% of voters think immigration priority for those coming to the U.S. should be based on a person’s ability to contribute to America as measured by their education and skills—and not based on a person having relatives in the U.S.
- 68% of voters oppose the lottery that randomly picks 50,000 people to enter the U.S. each year for great diversity.
- 61% of voters believe current border security is inadequate.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com

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