Donald Trump blames Democrats for young immigrants’ plight

U.S. Republicans will turn their attention to infrastructure and immigration issues, President Donald Trump said on Thursday, blaming Democrats for failing to help young “Dreamer” immigrants even as disunity simmered around the issue in his own party.

The president was due to make an appearance later on Thursday at a retreat for congressional Republicans aimed at rallying around legislative priorities before congressional elections in November that will be seen as a referendum on the party’s ability to govern and on Trump’s presidency.

With control of the White House and both chambers in Congress, Republicans had mixed legislative success last year: enacting a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul but failing to make good on a key campaign promise to repeal and replace former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

Congress has also failed to pass a long-term budget, instead relying on a number of temporary spending bills and briefly falling short of doing even that last month, which led to a three-day government shutdown. Current funding for federal agencies runs out Feb. 8.

Immigration in particular has become a thorny issue for both Republicans and Democrats. Former businessman Trump found political success in large part because of his tough campaign stance toward immigrants. But in …read more