After Trump Ditches DACA, Schumer Takes Border Wall ‘Off The Table’

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By Nathan Guttman January 24, 2018

With the shutdown over, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is back to playing hardball, making clear that a generous offer he made during the crisis is no longer on the table.

Schumer announced Tuesday he is rescinding his proposal to agree to $25 billion in funding for the wall Trump wants to build along the border with Mexico, in return for the administration agreeing to permanent protection from deportation for “dreamers” brought to the U.S. as children by parents who were undocumented immigrants.

“We’re going to have to start on a new basis, and the wall offer’s off the table,” Schumer said, explaining that the offer was only valid as part of a deal with the administration.

Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are now entering a new round of talks on an immigration deal, although it is not clear yet if Trump will sign an agreement, once reached.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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