connell: you would think after all we were through, immigration topic in the news, it would be daca, dreamers the hold-up, maybe it s something else. what s going on? one of the things that s popped up recently is that the republicans who are trying to figure out a way to solve the daca issue, the dreamers issue the legal immigration is coming into the equation, meaning that they in exchange for creating possibly a new visa program for the dreamers, for the kids who were brought to the united states illegally as children that they would take some of those visas from the diversity lottery program and family-base migration. now, these are legal forms of immigration but the administration and some republicans have looked at wanting to restrict some of the numbers and so they want to keep immigration levels the same and so by doing that, they want to look at legal immigration numbers.
going to talk hypothetical of what happens. we ll get a deal in the next six months. been more than six months now. how close are you to getting a deal to allow the dreamers to remain here in the united states, have access, a road to citizenship down the road in exchange for greater border security? we re working with house republicans on those same four pillars laid out to you before of certainty for the daca population and addressing the diversity lottery program. we think it s essential. what s changed in the last six months, wolf, unfortunately, the courts ruled in what democrats view in their view saying that the population is protected for now and democrats not come too long the table and tried for a deal here. as you know, we need 60 votes in the united states senate. without cooperation it s difficult for us to get there. democrats say they want they re willing to give you i understand that. what you want on border security and make sure that the dreamers are protec
whatever they bring him to now, he seems like he s not suggesting he ll sign anything other than what he s proposed. which is the path way to citizenship i know what the $25 billion for his border wall and border security in exchange. he doesn t seem open to signing anything else. at times he s been a very complicated player. his support will be crucial but at times the hill has wished it is better if he stays out of discussions. now we see the president ready to pin the blame if no solution has been thought of to blame it on democrats. the obvious issue is, you need 16 votes in the senate to pass anything. there are only 51 republicans. you need nine democrats. is there something nine democrats would be willing to support? not just the border security and gauk all the major changes he wants to do, to legal immigration, whether to end the diversity lottery program, bringing down individuals who come because of family reunification or chain
a new immigration bill. one that would give permanent legal status to undocumented people here since 2013. and add 55 judges every year for three years to expand the immigration court system. what you don t see here is what the president s loyalists would miss. the wall. let me bring back my panel, max boot, christine quinn and matt welsh. christine, not enough funding for president trump s border wall. there s not a word here. now, we ve got family-based legal immigration. an end to the diversity lottery program. one way that the white house official already said it s a nonstarter. are democrats fooling themselves, thinking they re going to get anything passed if it doesn t have a wall in it? we know how much the president wants it. while we can all agree at the table it might be nonsense, you ve heard republicans like will heard say it s a third century problem to a 21st century problem. all of those things are true.
facilities in guantanamo bay. my duty and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber is to defend americans because americans are dreamers, too. everybody is a dreamer. welcome back to velshi & ruhle, live in washington, d.c. that, of course, was president trump, taking plenty of opportunities in his first state of the union address to tell his base just what they wanted to hear. but is everything he said true? our panel is here to break it down. we have rick tyler, and eugene scott, political reporter for the woe washington post, and vivian, contributor for nbc news. the immigration issue is close to my heart as an immigrant. i want to ask about the visa lottery, what president trump calls the visa lottery. we know it is the diversity