Trump Pressures Democrats Over DACA and Infrastructure Plan

WASHINGTON — In a pair of tweets before 6 a.m. on Tuesday, President Donald Trump increased pressure on Democrats, reminding them of a countdown to strike a deal with Republicans so that young undocumented immigrants have a path to legally stay in the United States. He also appeared to suggest that if his recently unveiled infrastructure plan were unsuccessful, it would be the Democrats’ fault.

He wrote: “Negotiations on DACA have begun. Republicans want to make a deal and Democrats say they want to make a deal. Wouldn’t it be great if we could finally, after so many years, solve the DACA puzzle. This will be our last chance, there will never be another opportunity! March 5th.”

The threat on negotiations over the Obama-era program known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, comes as the Senate holds a rare open-ended debate on immigration. Trump ended the program in September, giving lawmakers until March 5 to agree on a replacement so that about 700,000 young immigrants are not deported. That deadline, however, is not as firm as the president suggests. A federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration to restart the program last month.

In a separate Twitter post on Tuesday, Trump suggested that the onus was on Democrats to come to an agreement on his infrastructure plan, which some lawmakers see as unrealistic.

He wrote: “Our infrastructure plan has been put forward and has received great reviews by everyone except, of course, the Democrats. After many years we have taken care of our Military, now we have to fix our roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and more. Bipartisan, make deal Dems?”

Trump plans to meet with Republicans and Democrats this week to discuss his proposal.