President Donald Trump said Friday there will be no deal to protect hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation without funding to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.
He also made a veiled threat over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, signaling that he is only willing to make a deal on the nearly 800,000 young immigrants protected under the program if Democrats compromise on a new immigration reform.
Work permits and deportation deferrals for the immigrants expire March 6, by which point Trump is hoping to make a deal that allows them to stay in the U. S. while also securing funding for his proposed wall along the southern border and an end to the diversity visa program and what he calls “chain migration” policies.
“The Democrats have been told, and fully understand, that there can be no DACA without the desperately needed WALL at the Southern Border and an END to the horrible Chain Migration & ridiculous Lottery System of Immigration etc,” Trump said. “We must protect our Country at all cost!”
Trump Insists Border Wall Money Must Be Part of DACA Deal
President Donald Trump said he would insist a legislation extending deportation protection to those brought to the U.S. illegally as children as long as includes funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump also said he would demand an end to a program that allows immigrants to sponsor family members to join them in the U.S., and a State Department program designed to offer immigrant visas to people from countries with low rates of migration to the U.S.
Calif. Sanctuary Law Forces Sheriff to Terminate ICE Cooperation
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department this week terminated its 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which allowed deputies to inform immigration agents about criminal aliens in custody. The move came in response to a new state law (SB 54) taking effect on January 1 that prohibits law enforcement agencies from participating in 287(g) and otherwise limits cooperation with ICE. Orange County (OC) Sheriff Sandra Hutchens and the state sheriff’s association opposed the sanctuary law, but now all sheriffs must comply.
Ray Grangoff, an OC sheriff’s spokesman, said 287(g) termination “is going to limit local control and put a lot of responsibility on the federal government…Before, we were very proactive in notifying ICE [about criminal aliens]. Now, we’re switching to responding to ICE[…] The sheriff is going to exercise her discretion to cooperate with federal law enforcement as much as the law allows.”
Grangoff said that ICE agents will have to identify criminal aliens by checking public arrest records and their databases, then agents ask for notification of an inmate’s release date in order to pick up for deportation.
Immigration Enforcement Among Issues Discussed at AMA Meeting
The American Academy of Pediatrics delegation attending the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD) 2017 interim meeting in Honolulu focused on preserving and strengthening Medicaid policies, thereby guiding AMA advocacy efforts at the national and state levels.
Through a report and resolutions, the HOD opposed Medicaid work requirements, state waivers and changes to the Affordable Care Act’s essential health benefits package. Congress also is considering removing annual or lifetime limits and out-of-pocket expense categories from essential health benefits package requirements.
Also, the American Academy of Pediatrics delegation convinced the HOD to override a Reference Committee recommendation in a resolution titled “Presence and Enforcement Actions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Healthcare Facilities.” This resolution asks the AMA to advocate for and support legislative designation of health care facilities as sensitive locations where ICE actions should not occur.
