Conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg claimed that both the Democratic and Republican parties are incentivized to reject immigration reform, which is why an immigration bill will likely not pass.
Here's what he said
"I think the basic explanation for why we saw what we saw today is simply that everyone sees that their political interests are better served by not having a deal than by having a deal," Goldberg explained, "and I think one of the mistakes the Trump administration made was, I thought their initial proposal unveiled at the State of the Union could have been a final compromise position, it's actually pretty generous on a lot of things or something along those lines."
"But everyone seems to be negotiating with themselves and then revealing a finished product, saying, 'see how much we came to your position,' that's not how compromises work," he added.
Where is the immigration debate now?
Goldberg was referring to the negotiating between Democrats and Republicans in Congress over an immigration bill and their inability to reach a compromise bill.
President Donald Trump offered a large concession to the Democrats by saying he would back a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million "Dreamer" illegal immigrants, but demanded that the Democrats give him $25 billion in exchange for building the border wall and other enforcement.
Democrats balked at the suggestion, but fell short of fulfilling their promise to immigration advocates to shut down the government for the sake of securing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) extensions for "Dreamers."
Some Republicans are blaming the president's staff for his hardline on immigration policy, and claim that Trump has been persuaded against a deal by their interventions.
Here's a video of Goldberg's comment:
.@JonahNRO on the Senate rejecting immigration proposals: "Everyone sees that their political interests are better served by not having a deal than having a deal." #SpecialReport pic.twitter.com/Mu34jGroLr
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 15, 2018
DACA, the Obama-era amnesty program for illegal immigrants who were brought into the country as children, will expire on March 5 unless Congress can pass an extension to secure their quasi-legal "deportation deferral" status with something more permanent.
