As of 8:00 pm, despite earlier optimism that s "moderate. bipartisan" group of senators was hoping to come up with a compromise -- something in the order of scheduling a vote on Feb. 8 for an immigration proposal in exchange for passing the budget funding bill tonight -- one of the chief negotiators of such a deal had this to say.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said this: President Trump and Chief of Staff Kelly are being tough but reasonable. But "every time we have a proposal it is only yanked back by staff members. As long as Stephen Miller is in charge of negotiating immigration, we're going nowhere." Miller is known as a hard-liner on immigration.
It is assumed by many that Miller is also the one who scuttled the deal that Sen. Schumer thought he and Trump had agreed to last Friday.
Another problem is that the Democrats, with good reason, simply do not trust the Republicans, especially Trump and his staff, on immigration. It was last September 5th that Trump abruptly announced he was ending the program -- but gave Congress until March to come up with a fix-it plan. They have not done so, and show no real interest in doing so. And, with Trump's quixotic flip-flops, depending on who last talked with him -- why should they be trusted? So they are determined to use this pressure now that they have it.
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