Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) believes he has a solution to the border wall funding fiasco that resulted in a shutdown of the federal government. He proposes giving President Donald Trump the $5 billion he's asked for to build the wall along the southern border. In exchange, DREAMers would be given legal status, something Democrats have been pushing for. He detailed his solution on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
"The one thing I know for sure is nothing will get out of the Senate without wall/border funding and Democrats are not going to give us money for a wall/border security without getting something themselves," Graham explained. "So here's what I think might work: $5 billion for wall/border security – Democrats have voted for more than that in the past – married up with the BRIDGE Act, which Sen. Durbin and I wrote, a three year, one-time renewable work permit for the DACA population, about 700,000."
Graham also said those living in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), like those fleeing civil war or hurricane wreckage, could also receive temporary, renewable status to stay in the United States.
He believes this compromise "might save the day in the Senate."
Here's the thing though: conservatives are tired of continually compromising on illegal immigration, especially when it comes to DREAMers. We continually go through this immigration fight and what always happens? We allow some kind of amnesty to take place, although Republicans are very careful not to use that word. In exchange for receiving border wall funding we have to make exceptions that allow people who are already here to stay.
Call it what you will but it's a wash. And conservatives are sick and tired of compromising on this issue. On one hand you tell people they can't come to America illegally, that they have to go through the proper channels. Then, on the other hand, you're granting amnesty – or the PC term "a pathway to citizenship" – to those who break the law. You're sending mixed signals to foreign nationals. And guess what? They know that if they hold out long enough that they'll get some kind of legal status without filling out a ton of applications, paying a bunch of fees and waiting in line like everyone else. They would rather come to America faster, cross illegally, wait until the politics benefit them and then get their legal status.
The two philosophies are contradictory and, at the end of the day, do nothing but cause even more issues down the road. This is just a bandaid on a wound that requires stitches.
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