U.S. Democrats withdraw $25B offer to fund Trump's border wall

Democrats have withdrawn an offer to fund U.S. President DonaldTrump's border wall, as tough negotiations over the future ofyoungimmigrants known as Dreamers resumed Tuesday in theSenate.

A day after the end of a government shutdown linked towrangling over immigration, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he pulled the offer because of what he said wasTrump's failure to follow through on the outlines of an agreement the two men discussed last Friday.

"So we're going to have to start on a new basis and the walloffer is off the table," Schumer told reporters. An aide said the offer was pulled on Sunday.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus expressed fears on Tuesdaythat Republicans in the House of Representatives would pursue aharsh immigration bill written by judiciary committee chairmanBob Goodlatte.

The House measure would allow Dreamers to renew their legalstatus for three years, instead of putting them on a pathway tocitizenship, and would call for hiring 10,000 more agents atU.S. borders while shutting down some visa programs and takingother steps to find people who are in the country illegally.

During the 2016 election campaign, Trump saidMexico would pay the cost of building a wall along thesouthwestern border of the United States to keep out illegalimmigrants. Mexico has rejected the idea.

As a result, Trump has been forced to ask Congress for U.S.taxpayer funds for the wall. Government estimates are that itcould cost over $21 billion.

With Democrats and many Republicans arguing there are moreeffective border enforcement tools than a wall, the proposal hasbecome a major sticking point in immigration negotiations, whichin turn have complicated talks about funding federal agencies.

The Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, asked by areporter whether Schumer offered Trump $25 billion for the wall in a major concession to the president, did not dispute thefigure, but said: "He did it in the context of a negotiation."

Protecting 'dreamers'

Democrats have been spearheading an effort to protect about700,000 young Dreamers after Trump last September announced theend of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals(DACA)program instituted by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.

The program, which began in 2012, gave qualified individuals brought illegally to the United States as childrentemporary protection from deportation,and the ability to studyand work in the United States.

Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, criticizedSchumer for pulling the wall funding offer.

"That basically sets the DACA discussion back," he toldreporters.

Cornyn said there had been discussions of he and Durbinbeing a "clearinghouse" for suggestions from senators on legislation to rescue Dreamers from the threat of deportationand provide permanent protections for them.

In agreeing on Monday to end a three-day government shutdownand fund the government until Feb. 8, Senate Democrats got apromise from Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell that hewould allow an immigration debate on he Senate floor in thenear future, the first one since 2013.

Durbin said a similar commitment was now needed from PaulRyan, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives,where a Dreamer bill would presumably face a much harder path topassage than in the Senate.

The White House on Tuesday rejected the idea that abipartisan bill sponsored by Durbin and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham could be the core of a solution.

White House spokespersonSarah Sanders said the proposal was"totally unacceptable to the president and should be declareddead on arrival."

Trump himself has vacillated on immigration between toughrhetoric demanding a U.S. border wall and a softer tone urging a"bill of love" for Dreamers.

"Nobody knows for sure that the Republicans & Democrats willbe able to reach a deal on DACA by February 8, but everyone willbe trying," Trump wrote on Twitter.