bipartisan efforts by again trying to put its entire wish list of hardline, anti-immigrant bills, plus an additional $18 billion in wall funding on the backs of these young people, those he s referencing, the d.r.e.a.m.ers. what do you make of dick durbin s response? how do democrats respond to this going forward? should they be worried about the shutdown affecting the whole? well, republicans run everything in washington, the congress and white house. if government shuts down, it s because republicans were unable to do their job. now, on daca, i think that there is a bipartisan coalition there to do something as early as tomorrow, if necessary. you have 34 house republicans who have said that they want to have a permanent fix to daca. there s enough house democrats to pass it in the house and likely in the senate. it s just, you know, when you confuse it and sort of mix it up with this border wall, which is deeply unpopular, you re going to have things grind to a halt. and i think
immigration as a pawn in political games. i understand your point completely, ana. here is the bottom line. if you want to have both parties stop using this as a game or as a pawn, then clear ly reform on the border with security. because if you don t, you re always going to have an issue of illegal immigration and children brought here against their will. at some point if you actually want to do something for these d.r.e.a.m.ers, if you want to have legal status in this country mean something, if you want to make sure that you have other people that are not brought here and abused and hiding in the shadows and you want to allow them to come out of the shadows and live as american citizens, you re going to have to have a secure border to accomplish that. without a secure border, we will never fix that problem and people will always be living in the shadows. i know that s your point and that s what president trump has said is his starting point.
status for undocumented immigrants brought here as children. that program expires march 5th. democrats want to protect the d.r.e.a.m.ers but president trump says he will not agree to that without funding his border wall. ana navarro and ben ferguson join us. happy new year to you. happy new year. ben, when was this border wall part of this agreement? that s not what nancy pelosi and chuck schumer say they agree to. look, i m sure they say they agreed to something very different, very favorable to what they want to accomplish. it s also clear that nancy pelosi and chuck schumer have always been against border security. when they came to meet with the president, they say the border wall wasn t mentioned. i ll read you the statement put out on october 8th. we told the president at our meeting we were open to reasonable border security measures alongside the d.r.e.a.m. act. this list that the president put out after that goes so far beyond what is reasonable, fails
he s always been compassionate and consistent towards d.r.e.a.m.ers. he s not talking about the children. that s the reason why there doesn t need to be as much fear mongering. the president has been consistent. he wants there to be a pathway for d.r.e.a.m.ers to stay in this country, people brought here no decision of their own, lived the majority of their life here who are law-abiding citizens. he has been extremely clear if, you re a grown adult, coming across the border illegally, we re going to deport you and making it he has not said d.r.e.a.m.ers, i will ensure your protections. what he is saying hold on, ben if i get my wall. that s a big difference. right. and, again, if you want to have reform, there s no way to have true, genuine reform and allow people to come out of the shadows and allow people not to have to worry unless you have an end date on this open border problem we have in this country. as ana said, is a virtual
a great opportunity for both parties. both parties support it. the president has unique credibility. will democrats want to give the trump administration a win and what s the political cost to that? that s the one that the president would be wisest to front load. those are two good ones to watch, obviously, a.b., as they unfold. let s deal with daca, the d.r.e.a.m.ers. democrats won t pay for the wall. republicans won t go along with protecting the d.r.e.a.m.ers if you don t pay for the wall. where does that leave everyone? that s not entirely true. that s the president s position. what he talked about with democrats months ago did not involve a wall. then his new tweet over the holidays was demand for a wall. immigration and lottery system and on and on, these sort of deal-breaking positions that are going to really throw more sort of gasoline on the fire of this already heated debate. i don t think it will be solved in january. i think they have until march