The White House released a statement Thursday blasting Senate Democratic lawmakers for opposing an immigration proposal defeated.
“Today, the Schumer Democrats in the Senate demonstrated again that they are not serious about DACA, they are not serious about immigration reform, and they are not serious about homeland security,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said. “Schumer Democrats chose to filibuster it because they are held hostage by the radical left in their party, which opposes any immigration control at all.”
The White House endorsed a bill proposed by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley during the Thursday votes which closely tracked with the Trump administration’s proposed framework. The bill included $25 billion for border wall funding, an end to chain migration, and an end to the diversity visa lottery program in return for a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
The bill received only 39 votes in the Senate. Many Republican and Democratic lawmakers have indicated they are most opposed to the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to legal immigration in the long term.
“While radical Schumer Democrats align themselves with the open border fringe, the Trump Administration will continue advocating for the American people. The next step will be for the House to continue advancing the proposal from Chairman Goodlatte and Chairman McCaul,” Sanders continued in her statement, appearing to endorse the bill moving through House of Representatives.
The bill in the House does not go nearly as far in compromise as the Grassley bill, as it offers no pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.