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MORE THAN once, President Trump has enticed Democrats and some moderate Republicans and risked infuriating hard-liners in his base by expressing an openness to overhauling the nations dysfunctional immigration system. He did so again in a session at the White House with television news anchors Tuesday, saying hed consider a compromise that included legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants, and then wondering aloud whether he should float the idea to Congress in his speech that night. He did not but if he really wishes to bring about the unity and renewal of the American spirit he spoke of in his address, he should.

It is a fools game to guess whether the president will ultimately legalize or deport more of the nations 11 million undocumented immigrants; he himself may have no firm idea what he intends. But if he wants to soothe this festering political and social wound, he is well positioned to do it. Having established himself as a hard-liner on illegal immigration and proposed tough new measures to stop it, he might well persuade fellow Republicans to accept a compromise on the millions of noncriminal immigrants already in the country.

A good place to start would be the question of what to do about dreamers, the 2 million or so undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children. There Mr. Trump has been more consistent. After initially suggesting he would scrap the Obama administrations program granting them temporary protection from deportation, the new president has repeatedly expressed sympathy for the dreamers plight, making clear he is disinclined to target them for removal and telling the news anchors he would be open to forging a pathway to citizenship for them.

Fair enough, but will he have the courage of his apparent convictions? The test is whether he acts to dispel the uncertainty hanging over the heads of roughly 750,000 dreamers whose age, duration of residence in the United States and verified clean record enabled them to register for the program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which provides work permits and temporary protection from removal. Registrants, who submit their names, addresses and other information, are now justifiably fearful that the government may use that data to track them down once their two-year DACA protections lapse. Hundreds of thousands of other eligible youngsters are unlikely to enroll given that peril.

Dreamers represent a pool of talent, brains and ambition that the United States should want to cultivate. Some 3,700 students in the University of California system are undocumented immigrants, and tens of thousands of dreamers are enrolled at other post-secondary institutions across the country. What possible benefit is there in deporting a promising cohort that is American in all but birth certificate?

With the stroke of a pen, Mr. Trump could extend the existing program, enabling dreamers to continue working, studying and living productive lives. He could go further by proposing permanent legal status or a path to citizenship for immigrants who, in many cases, have little memory of any country but the United States. That would lend weight to the presidents oft-stated assertions of his compassion.

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Trump's opportunity to do the right thing on immigration reform - Washington Post

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, says Trump's base would leave him almost immediately were he to support immigration reform, as he hinted ahead of his first address to Congress Tuesday night, rather than stick to the tough stance he espoused during the campaign.

During a lunch with television network anchors Tuesday, Trump said "the time is right for an immigration bill as long as there is compromise on both sides." And a senior administration official said that the president would consider a pathway to citizenship for so-called "DREAMers" and potential legal status for those already in the U.S. who have not committed serious crimes.

But King, who supports tightening border security, told ABC News Rick Klein and Jonathan Karl on the Powerhouse Politics podcast that Trumps Tuesday address was exactly consistent with the policies he touted on the campaign trail.

The thing that gave Donald Trump traction was enforcing immigration law and of course building a wall, King said, and that if he were to support immigration reform not only would the conservatives start to leave him, I dont know if anybody in the foreseeable future could run for the presidency on...securing our border.

King also said he didn't support the president's stance on paid family leave, espoused by Trump's daughter, Ivanka, and didn't applaud that portion of his speech.

That to me says borrowing money from China in order to pay people to babysit our children here, King said, adding that refundable tax credits might allow for Obamacare to be rebuilt back into statute.

Nonetheless, King gave the speech a very high grade.

When I heard him say the investment in infrastructure...it gave me a measure of hope if theres going to be some private capital invested in that, King said.

Trumps address was punctuated by an emotional moment where Carryn Owens -- the wife of Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens, who was killed in a raid in Yemen authorized by Trump in January -- received a standing ovation.

The president discussed why he considered the raid successful, lauded Ryan Owens and acknowledged his widow.

Some lawmakers said that Trump should have stuck to praising the fallen SEAL and left the success of the raid out, but King disagreed. I think if you ask Carryn Owens in one year, or five years or ten, or two or three generations from now they will look back on last night with great pride in their family, King said.

As for the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, King said that a GOP plan that espoused refundable tax credits is not a viable replacement because it implies that every American is entitled to a health insurance policy.

There should not be that entitlement. We need to make sure that we take care of people and we cant let them not have care, King said, but added that a gap in insurance coverage could be covered by programs like public clinics and market competition.

King said its necessary for congress to make a clean break and fully repeal the Affordable Care Act and then send the components of reform one at a time from the House to the Senate.

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Republican congressman Steve King says Trump's base would abandon him for immigration reform - ABC News

President Trump is not likely to back a compromise on immigration reform, despite suggesting he's that open to such a proposal, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said on Wednesday.

"I judge a person by their actions. And everything that Donald TrumpDonald TrumpTrump Jr. likely paid K for event hosted by Russian allies: report MSNBC president: Ratings on rise because we give smartest coverage out there Whats next for Latinos priorities under a Trump administration? MORE has said about immigration has been immigrant-baiting," Perez said on CNN's "New Day." We've seen it from the campaign, we've seen it through the election, we talk about the wall again last night."

"What he doesn't talk about are the people he's deporting," he added. "He claims to only be deporting immigrants who have been convicted of a serious crime. That's simply not accurate."

But the president did not talk about such a proposal during his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. Instead, he discussed his administration's efforts to crack down on undocumented immigrants who commit crimes.

As we speak, we are removing gang members, drug dealers and criminals that threaten our communities and prey on our citizens, he said. Bad ones are going out as I speak tonight.

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DNC chair: Trump unlikely to back immigration reform compromise - The Hill (blog)

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In his Feb. 28 speech to the joint session of Congress, he declared:

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Nations around the world, like Canada, Australia and many others - have a merit-based immigration system. It is a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially. Yet, in America, we do not enforce this rule, straining the very public resources that our poorest citizens rely upon. According to the National Academy of Sciences, our current immigration system costs Americas taxpayers many billions of dollars a year.

Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration, and instead adopting a merit-based system, will have many benefits: it will save countless dollars, raise workers wages, and help struggling families - including immigrant families - enter the middle class.

I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: to improve jobs and wages for Americans, to strengthen our nations security, and to restore respect for our laws.

Trumps proposed shift to a merit-based immigration system would reduce the inflow of unskilled migrants, but perhaps also raise the inflow of skilled migrants.

Two GOP Senators are also proposing a reduction in low-skill immigration and a rise in high-skilled immigration.

Any policy shift to reduce l0w-skilled migration would likely be opposed by Democrats, by Wall Street investors and by the many membercompanies in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, all of whom gain from the huge annual inflow of roughly800,000 salary-cutting, welfare-spending unskilled migrants.

Most of these unskilled immigrants are the extended familyrelations of prior unskilled immigrants from South America or Asia, and they tend to push less skilled Americans white, Latino and African-American out of the job market. This family based inflow is strongly supported by ethnic political groups, such as the National Council of La Raza and by various Arab, Pakistani, and Islamic political groups.

Trump suggested he opposed migrants who do not integrate into Americans society, saying those given the high honor of admission to the United States should support this country and love its people and its values.

Trump reemphasized his frequent argument that curbs on illegal immigration will help raise Americans wages. By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions of dollars, and make our communities safer for everyone, he said, adding we want all Americans to succeed - but that cant happen in an environment of lawless chaos.

In contrast to unskilled migration, the annual inflow of university educated legal immigrants is much smaller, at perhaps 200,000 professionals per year.

Nonetheless, these skilled migrants compete for white-collar jobs against the roughly 800,000 young Americans who graduate each year with degrees in business, healthcare, technology, and science.

The white-collar immigrant labor supply is augmented by the resident population of at least 1 million white-collar contract workers who hold long-term H-1B visas or work permits. Roughly 650,000 foreign H-1B workersare employedin a wide variety of white-collar jobs in the United States, including roughly 100,000 as academics, teachers, doctors, therapists, scientists, and designers at American universities. Other visa programs boost the number of resident foreign professionals to at least 1 million.

The H-1B program and other visa programs are used by many prestigious American companies, includingComcast,Carnival,Disney,McDonalds,Caterpillar.and Uber. Also, many lesser-known U.S. companies hire Indian workers from Indian-owned outsourcing firms.

The large supply of foreign graduates either immigrants or guest workers pushes many middle-aged American professionals out of their careers and pushes younger American graduates into different careers with lower salaries.

The sidelined American professionals and their families have been a huge source of support for Trump because of Trumps repeated opposition to the H-1B program.If Trump is willing to increase the inflow of skilled white-collar workers, he risks losing the support of many middle-class voters during the 2018 and 2020 elections.

If Trump is willing to increase the inflow of white-collar skilled workers, he risks losing the support of many middle-class voters during the 2018 and 2020 elections.

But any debate about higher levels of skilled immigration might also create broad white-collar opposition to cheap-labor immigration programs, so helping Trump build public support for a reduction in overall immigration levels.

Name-brand companies and universities lobby year-round for a greater supply of foreign white-collar labor. For example, in 2013, companies and universities persuadedsenators to include a provision in the pending Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill which would have allowed an unlimited inflow of salary-cutting foreign graduates into the white-collar job sites. In 2017, these business groups are opposing campaign proposals by Trump to reform the H-1B programs, which has created a resident population of roughly 650,000 white-collar contract workers, including 100,000 employed by universities.

For example, in 2013, companies and universities persuadedsenators to include a provision in the pending Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill which would have allowed an unlimited inflow of salary-cutting foreign graduates into the white-collar job sites. In 2017, these business groups are opposing campaign proposals by Trump to reform the H-1B programs, which has created a resident population of roughly 650,000 white-collar contract workers, including 100,000 contract workers employed by universities.

Link:
Donald Trump Calls for Huge Merit Based Immigration Reform

Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he thinks its going to be difficult but that it is possible to make progress on immigration reform under President Donald Trump.

As a member of the bipartisan Gang of Eight, Rubio pushed a comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2013 that ultimately passed the Senate but not the House, though he later walked back his support for some of its provisions. Alongside other points, the 2013 bill would have created a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

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Trump addressed the question of immigration at his generally well-received address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, after some speculation that he would endorse comprehensive reform, possibly including a path to legal status for some undocumented people. Trump did not call for that in his speech, but talked about the need for greater enforcement of immigration law and reform of the U.S. system into a merit-based one, while still presenting illegal immigration as a threat to the country.

Rubio, speaking to Fox, endorsed Trumps points on law enforcement and making the immigration system more merit-based. After movements on those two fronts, Rubio suggested, then you can do something very reasonable with the people who have been here a long time who are not gang bangers, who are not criminals, who are not a threat to public safety.

I believe if Democrats are willing to accept that direction then we can get something done, he said. If they continue to fight for of the unrealistic, the Let's give everybody blanket amnesty, or Lets give everybody citizenship, or Lets do it backwards, or Lets be against any effort to enforce the law beyond symbolic things, then I think were going to continue to be stuck in the cycle weve been in.

I'm hopeful, he concluded. Its going to be difficult, but it is possible.

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Rubio: Immigration reform will be 'difficult' but 'possible' - Politico