President Donald Trump called on Congress to immediately pass immigration reform and urged lawmakers to use the ‘nuclear option’ to do so.
The president made the demand in a series of tweets on Sunday and Monday which referenced a caravan of over 1,000 migrants traveling from Central America through Mexico with the intent of claiming asylum in the United States.
Under current immigration laws, these migrants can cross the border illegally, get detained, claim asylum, and be released into the United States with a pending court date.
The “nuclear option” that Trump referred to is a way that the Senate can break through obstruction by the Democrats and vote on a bill with a simple majority. The Senate last used the nuclear option to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch.
Trump also threatened to end the North American Free Trade Agreement if Mexico does not do more to stop migrants on Mexico’s northern border.
The president suggested that the illegal aliens entering the United States are hoping to take advantage of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which gave temporary legal status to aliens who entered the country illegally as children. Trump ended the DACA program after using it to try and strike a deal with Democrats. On Sunday, he tweeted that there will be “NO MORE DACA DEAL!”
Trump’s immigration reform proposal would end the diversity visa lottery and replace it with a merit-based system. The president also wants to end chain migration, a term used for people who bring in their extended family after becoming naturalized.
Asked about the meaning of his tweet about the DACA deal, Trump appeared to still leave some leeway for a deal.
“Mexico has got to help us at the border,” he said. “And a lot of people are coming in because they want to take advantage of DACA, and we’re going to have to really see.”