WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration revealed a set of sweeping immigration demands Sunday night _ including the building of a wall on the southern border and major changes to the legal immigration system _ as tradeoffs for legislation to protect the so-called Dreamers.
The White House proposals would curb the ability of family members to join their relatives from abroad, upending decades of immigration policy, and put strict new limits on asylum claims.
Democrats quickly denounced the proposals, saying they did not come close to what President Donald Trump and congressional Democratic leaders had discussed last month when they struck a tentative deal for legislation to protect the Dreamers, young people who arrived in the U.S. illegally when they were children.
"This list goes so far beyond what is reasonable. This proposal fails to represent any attempt at compromise," Democratic leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California and Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York said in a statement.
In addition to the restrictions on legal immigration and asylum claims, the White House list also included increased money for border security and mandatory use of the government's E-Verify system for employers to ensure that workers they hire are legal residents.
If Trump insists on each of the proposals, the move would probably kill the deal to pass legislation that would grant legal status to Dreamers. Trump announced last month that he would end the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provided a temporary legal status for them.
"These requirements are truly essential to ensuring border security and national security," said Ronald D. Vitiello, acting deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
