WASHINGTON — The Trump administration released a list of hard-line immigration principles late Sunday that could threaten to derail a deal in Congress to allow hundreds of thousands of younger undocumented immigrants to remain legally in the country.

The administration’s wish-list includes the funding of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a crackdown on the influx of Central American minors and curbs on federal grants to sanctuary cities, according to a document distributed to Congress and obtained by The Washington Post.

The demands were quickly denounced by Democratic leaders in Congress who had hoped to forge a deal with President Trump to protect younger immigrants, known as “dreamers,” who were brought to the United States illegally as children. Trump announced plans last month to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, an Obama-era program that had provided two-year work permits to the dreamers that he called “unconstitutional.”

About 690,000 immigrants are enrolled in DACA, but their work permits are due to begin expiring in March. Trump met last month with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and agreed to try to strike a deal, worrying immigration hawks who feared that Trump would support a bill that would allow dreamers to gain full legal status without asking for significant border security measures in return.

The list released by the administration, however, would represent a major tightening of immigration laws. Cuts to legal immigration also are included.

“The administration can’t be serious about compromise or helping the dreamers if they begin with a list that is anathema to the dreamers, to the immigrant community and to the vast majority of Americans,” Schumer and Pelosi said in a joint statement Sunday. “We told the president at our meeting that we were open to reasonable border security measures … but this list goes so far beyond what is reasonable. This proposal fails to represent any attempt at compromise.”

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In a conference call with reporters, White House aides described the proposals as a necessary step to protect public safety and jobs for American-born workers, which was a centerpiece of Trump’s campaign. The president has moved to tighten border security since taking office through a series of executive orders, including curbs on immigration and refugees from some majority-Muslim nations and an increase in deportations from the interior of the country.

The number of immigrants who have tried to enter the country illegally across the Mexican border has dropped sharply since Trump took office.

Democrats had hoped that Trump, who had equivocated over the DACA program before deciding to terminate it in the face of a legal challenge from Texas, would be open to crafting a narrow legislative deal to protect the dreamers. But White House aides emphasized they expect Congress to include the principles released Sunday in any package deal, a nonstarter for Democrats and some moderate Republicans.

Trump had said several times over the past month that he did not expect a DACA deal to include funding for a border wall, emphasizing that the money could be included in separate legislation. But ensuring funding for the wall, which is projected to cost more than $25 billion, is the first priority on the list.


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