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U.S. - MEXICO BORDER WALL
Immigration talks resume Senator Schumer takes back multibillion-dollar funding offer By Sahil Kapur, Laura Litvan and Steven T. Dennis B L OOMBE RG NEWS
Schumer Rescinds Wall Offer to Trump as Immigration Talks Resume Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday he withdrew the offer he made last week to give President Donald Trump more than the initial $1.6 billion he requested for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. “It was part of a package” on immigration that didn’t come together, Schumer of New York told reporters. “We’re going to have to start on a new basis and the wall offer is off the table.” Republicans called the minority leader’s move a step back in the continuing debate over immigration. The threeday shutdown that ended Monday may have hastened an immigration debate in the Senate, but it also deepened the acrimony and highlighted bitter divisions between the two parties that stand in the way of
a compromise. Still, Schumer said Monday’s agreement to end the three-day government shutdown provided a “glimmer of hope” for renewed talks. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he will keep his word to take up immigration next month as long as the government remains open. “Whoever gets 60 votes wins” on immigration bills, McConnell said. After the impasse was resolved Monday, immigration hardliners and Trump’s White House exulted in what officials swiftly portrayed as a Democratic surrender. “Big win for Republicans as Democrats cave on Shutdown,” Trump said on Twitter late Monday. “Nobody knows for sure that the Republicans & Democrats will be able to reach a deal” on immigration, he tweeted on Tuesday morning, “but everyone will be trying.” White House congressional liaison Marc Short said Tuesday that bipartisan talks on immigration had restarted.
Lynne Sladky / AP
A police officer stands outside of the office of Sen. Marco Rubio as protesters march in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and Congress passing a clean Dream Act on Monday in Doral, Florida. They weren't permitted to enter the office.
GOP Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said members of a bipartisan group will present ideas to top party members in the coming days. Second-ranking Republican John Cornyn of Texas called Schumer’s move a setback. He
said a border-security plan will need more than a one-year appropriation in exchange for protecting young immigrants from deportation. “We need a plan and we need the funding to pay for the plan as part of this negotia-
U.S. BORDER PATROL’S EL PASO SECTOR
FEDS MOVE TO REPLACE BORDER WALL
tion,” Cornyn said. “It’s got to be a whole system of infrastructure, people and technology.” Progressives blasted Democratic leaders for giving in too easily to McConnell’s vague Talks continues on A10
NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
Michelle Siu/The Canadian Press/AP
Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, left, poses for a photo before holding a bilateral meeting with Mexico's Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal in Toronto.
US wants ‘step back’ on auto sector Russell Contreras / Associated Press
A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle drives next to a U.S-Mexico border fence in the booming New Mexico town of Santa Teresa. The Trump administration is waiving numerous laws to clear the way for replacing existing vehicle barriers along a stretch of the US-Mexico border in New Mexico.
Numerous laws waived to clear the way for barriers
Partners won’t make counteroffer on car rules By Josh Wingrove and Eric Martin
By Russell Contreras A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Trump administration announced Monday it was preparing to replace existing vehicle barriers along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico that officials call “an area of high illegal entry.” The notice published in the Federal Register said the area extends around 20 miles west of the Santa Teresa Port of Entry. According to the notice, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
will replace the existing barriers with bollard walls to deter and prevent illegal crossings. Bollard walls are made up of sturdy, vertical posts that are spaced to provide visibility to the other side but are difficult to walk through “There is presently a need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States to deter illegal crossings in the project area,” Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in the notice. The targeted area is part of the U.S. Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector
that federal officials say remains an active route for human smuggling and drug trafficking. In 2016, officials said the Border Patrol in the sector arrested more than 25,000 immigrants suspected of trying to enter the country illegally and seized around 67,000 pounds of marijuana. Santa Teresa, New Mexico — a booming industrial border town — is west of El Paso, Texas. This marks the third time Homeland Security under President Donald Trump has used broad powers under a 2005 law to waive laws such Border continues on A10
BL OOMBERG NEWS
The U.S., Canada and Mexico kicked off a crucial round of NAFTA negotiations with little sign of progress on the critical issue of automobiles. As round six of North American Free Trade Agreement talks get underway in Montreal, observers say the latest session needs to show progress to keep U.S. President Donald Trump from following through on his threat to withdraw. Yet Canada and Mexico aren’t arriving with a specific counter-proposal on U.S. demands on the auto sector, with one saying instead a “step back” is needed. One of the president’s hallmark proposals is to NAFTA continues on A10