Trump says he won’t sign GOP’s compromise immigration bill

President Trump on Friday said that he would not sign the House GOP’s compromise immigration bill, delivering a major blow to Republican leadership’s plans.

“I certainly wouldn’t sign the more moderate one,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends” during an impromptu interview on the White House lawn. “I need a bill that gives this country tremendous border security. I have to have that.”

{mosads} 

GOP leaders reached an agreement to hold two votes next week on a pair of immigration bills including a compromise immigration bill, which is the product of weeks of negotiations between moderate Republicans and conservatives, and a more hard-line immigration measure from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.). 

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) earlier in the week said that Trump was excited about the compromise bill and seemed to be on board with the plan, which sticks to the four main “pillars” outlined by the White House.

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, a hard-liner on immigration, told members of the Republican Study Committee earlier this week that the Trump White House expects to support both immigration bills coming to the House floor next week.

During a closed-door lunch meeting, Miller tried to rally support for the immigration compromise that was still being crafted and said the White House likes where the process is headed, according to a source inside the room.

But many conservatives have remained skeptical of the effort because it provides legal protections for up to 1.8 million “Dreamers,” who were brought to the country illegally as children. Some lawmakers were looking for an endorsement from Trump to provide them some cover to vote for the bill. 

The compromise measure creates a new merit-based visa program for Dreamers, provides $25 billion for border security, ends the diversity visa lottery program and limits family-based migration — the four priorities outlined by Trump earlier this year. 

The measure also ends the separation of immigrant children and parents at the border, ends “catch and release” immigration loopholes and contains a trigger mechanism to halt the new visas if Congress denies funding for the wall.

GOP leaders plan to whip the bill on Friday, with floor votes scheduled for next Thursday.