President Trump on Tuesday told sheriffs from throughout the country that Congress needed to pass a tough immigration bill to help keep terrorists, drugs and gang members out of the country.
“We want them out. We don’t want them in,” Mr. Trump told a National Sheriffs Association roundtable discussion at the White House.
“Right now we’re working on DACA, we’re working on immigration bills, and we’re making them tough so you people can enforce the laws,” he said. “We want securing the border and a wall, ending chain migration, and canceling the visa lottery. I think you all agree.”
The Senate took up a debate to fix Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals or DACA, an Obama-era deportation amnesty for illegal immigrant “Dreamers” who came to the U.S. as minors.
Mr. Trump proposed a path to citizenship for 1.8 million Dreamers coupled with $25 billion for border security, limits on family-based chain migration and an end to the Visa Diversity Lottery.
The debate in the Senate has stalled, and Congress is scheduled to take off next week the George Washington birthday holiday.
“In everything we do, we’re listening to law enforcement and we’re putting the safety and security of American people first,” Mr. Trump told the sheriffs.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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