2020 Democrats rejected Trump's latest 'compromise' to end the shutdown - here's what they had to say
- Democrats this weekend roundly rejected President Donald Trump's offer to extend protections for Dreamers in exchange for funding for his border wall.
- Potential presidential candidates including Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Bernie Sanders accused the president of using Dreamers as bargaining chips and urged him to end the government shutdown.
- Trump forced a government shutdown five weeks ago over funding for a border wall.
President Trump's latest offer to end the shutdown wasn't received well by Democratic politicians who are eyeing a 2020 White House bid.
Democrats this weekend roundly rejected Trump's proposal, which would extend protection for undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children, known as Dreamers, in exchange for funding for a wall along the US-Mexico border. Trump forced a government shutdown in late December to pressure Congress into approving the wall funding.
Although the White House touted Trump's offer as a compromise, many Democrats accused him of using Dreamers as political pawns, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer put it.
"Offering some protections back in exchange for the wall is not a compromise but more hostage taking," Schumer said on Saturday. "There's only way out: open up the government, Mr. President, and then Democrats and Republicans can have a civil discussion and come up with bipartisan solutions."
Immigration is sure to be one of the most pivotal issues in the 2020 election, and several Democrats who have expressed interest in a presidential bid offered their opinions of Trump's attempt at a deal.
Here's what the Democrats had to say: