President Donald Trump’s administration has laid out a string of demands on what must be done in return for allowing so-called “Dreamers” -- young people brought illegally to the U.S. as children -- to stay in the country.
White House officials detailed the plan, which includes fully funding Trump’s proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and money to hire thousands of additional immigration agents, in a briefing on Sunday.
The immigration proposals were delivered to Congressional leaders on Sunday, said Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs.
The principles are meant as the framework for a legislative reworking of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program terminated in September by Trump.
Short said a review of U.S. immigration laws requested by Trump identified three major issues: the need to remove undocumented immigrants at the border; enforcing immigration standards in the interior U.S., including visa overstays; and ending a policy of allowing immigration based on extended-family relationships in the U.S., which he termed unfair to taxpayers and citizens.
The review was carried out by agencies including the departments of Justice, State and Homeland Security, Short said.