WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2019) US President Donald Trump's proposal to end the record-long shutdown of the Federal government would weaken protections for immigrants in the United States, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a press release on Tuesday.
Trump unveiled the proposal during a televised speech on Saturday, saying it would give migrants covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and those holding Temporary Protected Status (TPS) a three-year reprieve from deportation in exchange for $5.7 billion in border security funds.
"This proposal is substantially worse than what the president described in his speech ... it includes Stephen Miller's wish list of anti-immigrant provisions," ACLU Political Director Lorella Praeli said in the release. "The sham 'compromise' would weaken the asylum system, strip vulnerable children of critical safeguards in� the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and hollow out protections for individuals from countries ravaged by natural disasters or war."
Praeli said the proposal's limited protections for DACA and TPS recipients were "hollow" because Trump has already ended both programs.
The Trump administration announced in 2017 that it would phase out DACA and rescind some TPS protections. Both decision have been challenged in US federal courts, and two judges have issued injunctions blocking Trump's decision to rescind DACA.
Leading Democrats have as a result dismissed Trump's deal as a non-starter, calling for a permanent solution for the so-called "Dreamers" who benefit from DACA, as well as TPS recipients.
Trump's proposal is ultimately aimed at ending the longest-ever US federal government shutdown, which has left 800,000 federal workers either furloughed or working without paychecks since December 22. US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that the Senate would vote on Trump's proposal later this week.
