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Bloomberg
President Donald Trump’s hardening line on immigration sets him on a collision course with House Democrats that is likely to shape the next presidential campaign.
Trump’s first move following midterm elections in which he stoked fears of undocumented immigrants was to restrict asylum claims by people who illegally cross the US-Mexico border.
He has also promised to try to end the constitutional guarantee of citizenship to anyone born in the country through executive action.
Both Trump and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the likely next speaker of the House, racked up political gains in the election that each credits to the intractable debate over immigration policy. It’s unclear whether Pelosi is willing to make the compromises necessary to move forward — and regardless, Trump appears ready to spend the next two years testing the limits of his executive authority and daring the federal courts to stop him.
All of that amounts to “a brutal couple of years†ahead on immigration, said Frank Sharry, executive director of the pro-immigrants’ rights group America’s Voice.
Trump’s immigration policies and the lack of deportation protections for Dreamers — immigrants who were brought into the US as children and are now adults — helped Democrats oust House Republicans in districts with heavy concentrations of Latino voters, including Representatives Mike Coffman of Colorado and Carlos Curbelo of Florida.
For Trump, the goals he wasn’t able to achieve when his own party controlled both chambers — including funding for his border wall and lower limits on legal immigration — will be further out of reach with a Democratic majority in the House. Democrats plan to move ahead with legislation to expand protections for immigrants, showing voters what could become law if they were to win the presidency and Senate in 2020.
There is some potential for limited action on immigration in the closing weeks of the year. Trump’s demand for a border wall will be part of negotiations to complete this year’s spending bills and avert a government shutdown.