Document Dump: The Dems Opening Offer In The Border Wall Negotiations

Ken AshfordImmigration and Xenophobia, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Some interesting tidbits:

  • Democrats have offered $500 million “to address humanitarian concerns at the border, including medical care, more efficient transportation, food and other consumables, and to support at least one prototype temporary holding facility (72 hours or less) with better conditions and services for migrants.” (Trump doesn’t want this, but it’ll give a lie to his supposed concern if he rejects it)
  • Democrats will add legislative language to scale down the funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention beds. 
  • Democrats will spend real money on various aspects of border security, such as nearly $200 million on a combination of new watercraft, aircraft and sensors, and increased time for overhead patrols. There’s a lot of other stuff in there along these lines.

The basic trade-off at the core of this document, simplified, is that Democrats are trying to nudge the immigration system towards more humane treatment of migrant children and families, in exchange for supporting more border security — not barriers, but the type of security they say is more cost-effective in the 21st century.

Trump is sick of the semantics too, but it is HIS game. First he wants a medieval wall, then steel barriers, than an invisible “wall”, then an “actual” wall . . . nobody can keep up with what he wants. Of course, Trump doesn’t know either. He wants to be able to convince Ann Coulter that he WON — PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT — but he knows he can’t get an actual wall (that Mexico paid for). You can see him posturing that he has ALREADY won and the wall is ALREADY being built (it’s not — parts are being refurbished and there is 14 miles to be built).

Yeah, whatevs.