Trump border plan could prompt gov't shutdown, Democrat Durbin warns
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.