White House to release immigration bill's 'legislative framework' as congressional talks get off to rough start

The plan 'represents a bipartisan compromise', according to White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders

Speaking at the White House briefing, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to reveal specifics about the White House’s immigration framework. (Getty Images )

The White House has said it will send a “legislative framework” to Congress in an attempt to revitalise stalling negotiations on immigration.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the plan “represents a bipartisan compromise” that both Republicans and Democrats can support.

A day after a new round of immigration negotiations have begun, senators are already sparring over funding for Donald Trump’s oft-promised border wall, which the President argues is necessary for the US’s security.

They are also trying to figure out a permanent legislative fix for the the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, which gives people brought to the US as a children the temporary right to live, study and work in America.

Mr Trump, who rescinded the Obama-era programme in September, has given Congress until March 5 to pass protections for the so-called “Dreamers”.

Speaking at the White House briefing, Ms Sanders declined to reveal specifics about the White House’s framework, including whether it provides a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. But she said the plan would lay out a “permanent” solution for beneficiaries of DACA.

She also said the measure would fulfill Mr Trump’s goals of securing the border, ending extended-family chain migration and eliminating the diversity visa lottery system.

“After decades of inaction by Congress, it’s time we work together to solve this issue once and for all,” the White House said in a statement. “The American people deserve no less.”

Mr Trump has repeatedly said that he wants to end the lottery programme, which awards up to 50,000 visas per year to people from parts of the world that have relatively few immigrants in America.

The President blamed the system for how one of last year’s New York terror suspects got into the US.

“We need to get rid of the lottery program as soon as possible,” Mr Trump told reporters in November.

He added: “We’re going to quickly as possible get rid of chain migration and move to a merit programme.”

Also on Wednesday, the mayors of New York City and New Orleans announced they would not be attending the White House for a meeting between mayors and Mr Trump that was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York was ostensibly angry that the Justice Department had sent letters to 23 jurisdictions demanding that they produce documents showing the cities weren’t skirting immigration laws.

Those jurisdictions are at risk of losing federal grant money, according to the DOJ.

“I will NOT be attending today’s meeting at the White House after @realDonaldTrump’s Department of Justice decided to renew their racist assault on our immigrant communities,” Mr de Blasio said in a tweet. “It doesn’t make us safer and it violates America’s core values.”