White House Circulates Immigration Framework Memo

01/26/2018

The Trump Administration has circulated a memo laying out its framework for immigration reform, including an increase in border spending, a path to citizenship for 1.8 million DACA recipients and DACA-eligible undocumented immigrants, and an end to extended-family sponsorship and the Diversity Visa Lottery program.

The memo calls for an increase in border spending, including a $25 billion trust fund for the proposed border wall and ports of entry, additional funds to hire and retain DHS personnel, ICE attorneys, judges, and prosecutors, and an end to "catch-and-release," a protocol historically followed by ICE and CBP where people caught for being in unlawful immigration status are released while waiting for a hearing with an immigration judge. It also calls on Congress to limit family sponsorships for citizenship and legal permanent residency to spouses and children, ending extended-family migration. The changes would be applied prospectively, not retroactively. Lastly, it calls for the end of the Diversity Immigrant Visa program and the reallocation of the visas it would have issued under the program to address family and high-skilled employment visa backlogs.

The memo also calls for a 10- to 12-year path to citizenship for 1.8 million people, including DACA recipients and DACA-eligible undocumented immigrants. It calls for work, education, and "good moral character" requirements and notes that their status would be subject to revocation for criminal conduct, fraud, public safety, and national security concerns.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), one of the sponsors of a bipartisan immigration reform bill in the Senate, denounced the memo, stating: "[President Trump's] plan would put the administration's entire hardline immigration agenda - including massive cuts to legal immigration - on the backs of these young people."

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