Trump border plan could prompt gov't shutdown, Democrat Durbin warns

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate Democratic whip, smiles as he heads for a weekly policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

President Donald Trump’s proposed border security measures are undermining bipartisan negotiations on Capitol Hill -- and could potentially lead to a government shutdown, a top Senate Democrat said Friday.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the second-ranking Senate Democrat, called Trump’s plans -- including $18 billion for a border wall -- at the expense of months of bipartisan efforts, “outrageous.”

Republicans countered that the Democrats' proposals for immigration were just as “ridiculous.”

As U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., tweeted Friday, “The only thing that’s not serious is the Gang of Amnesty’s ridiculous proposal: amnesty in the millions, no end to chain migration, use diversity-lottery green cards for TPS aliens (T = temporary!), & pittance for phony border security. Get real!”

The Trump administration's planned "border wall system" would ultimately include 864 miles of a “new main wall and 1,163 of a replacement or secondary barrier,” Politico reported, citing information in a five-page document it obtained.

The document also addressed enforcement provisions, which would require detention facilities and holding centers for families and unaccompanied minors caught at the border.

The Department of Homeland Security would be allowed to raise visa and border crossing fees as a way to compensate offshoot the cost of these investments.

All of proposals, however, would need to be funded by Congress.