Trump shutdown announcement: Democrats reject president's Daca compromise on border security and immigration
'Not a compromise, more hostage taking,' says Chuck Schumer
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump's attempt to strike a deal with Democrats and reopen the federal government appears to have failed, after the terms of his offer were firmly rejected.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer both dismissed the president's compromise, which was unveiled during a live television address.
In a relatively diplomatic address the president offered extensions to protections for certain undocumented immigrants in exchange for $5.7bn (£4.4bn) to go towards his proposed border wall along the US-Mexico border. "Rank and file" Democrats had contributed to the plan, he said, adding that it was aimed at alleviating a "humanitarian crisis".
Mr Trump has been in a standoff with Democrats in Congress for the past 29 days after he refused to sign a government funding bill without the money. The federal government has been partially shut down throughout this period.
Ms Pelosi lambasted the president's offer in a statement released before Mr Trump spoke. "Initial reports make clear that is 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," she said.
"It is unlikely that any of these provisions alone would pass the House and taken together, they are a non-starter."
In the latest instance of political brinkmanship over the shutdown, Ms Pelosi cancelled her plans to travel by commercial plane to visit US troops in Afghanistan, saying the president had caused a security risk by talking about the trip.
Mr Schumer also rejected Mr Trump's proposal.
"It was the president who single-handedly took away DACA and TPS protections in the first place—offering some protections back in exchange for the wall is not a compromise but more hostage taking," he said.
Around 800,000 federal employees are on leave or working without pay since the shutdown began and nine of the 15 cabinet-level departments have not been funded in almost a month.
The long shutdown may be hitting home for the president. Just 21 of the roughly 80 people who tend to his needs at the White House – from butlers to electricians to chefs – are reporting to work. The rest have been placed on leave.
See below how we covered this story live:
House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi called the reported compromise “unacceptable” and “not a good faith effort” to reopen the federal government, which has been closed for 29 days — the longest shutdown in American history. She said the president’s compromise did not have enough support to pass in the House of Representatives or the Senate.
The president is beginning with a statement about his visit to an event swearing in legal documented immigrants.
“Unfortunately our immigration system has been badly broken for a very long time,” Mr Trump said. “We are now living with the consequences … there is a humanitarian and security crisis on our southern border that requires urgent action.”
Donald Trump says he’s gotten to know Angel Moms, referring to the parents of people who have been killed by undocumented immigrants in the US.
“As a candidate for president I promised I would fix this crisis and I intend to keep that promise one way or another,” the president said on Saturday.
As was widely predicted, Trump's address so far is light on substance but replete with anti-immigration rhetoric.
“If we are successful in this effort, we will have the best chance … at real, bipartisan immigration reform,” the president said, before outlining the proposal he says received input from border security professionals.
“It is a compassionate response to the ongoing tragedy,” he continued.
Donald Trump says his plan includes the following:
$800m in humanitarian assistance
$805m in drug technology to secure ports
2,750 additional border agents and law enforcement professionals
75 new immigration judge teams to reduce court backlog
Measures to protect children from exploitation
A new system to apply for asylum outside of the US
$5.7bn for physical barriers, “Or, a wall,” the president said.
Donald Trump says the plan includes three years of legislative relief for Daca recipients, as well as a three-year extension for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a programme that applies to 300,000 immigrants.
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