Don't believe the hype...

Trump: 'There'll be no approvals from me' on House immigration moves without border wall, tougher security

By LOUIS NELSON

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will veto any immigration legislation that emerges from Congress that does not include funding for a border wall and improved border security measures, a warning shot at moderate House Republicans pushing GOP leadership for a vote on immigration proposals.

“Unless it includes a wall, and I mean a wall, a real wall, and unless it includes very strong border security, there’ll be no approvals from me. Because I have to either approve it or not,” the president said in a Fox News interview that was taped Wednesday and aired Thursday morning. “There are bills going through. I'm watching one or two of them. We'll see what happens, but I can tell you there is a mood right now for border security.”

In the House, some moderate Republicans have partnered with Democrats in backing a discharge petition, a maneuver which, if it garners enough signatures, would force a floor vote on legislative proposals to protect Dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, from deportation. Such a move would go against the wishes of Republican leadership, which has urged lawmakers not to sign onto the petition.

GOP moderates are demanding that any Republican immigration deal must include a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers – something the conservative wing of the party has opposed – if they are to back off of their discharge petition threat.

Trump himself has endorsed a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, but only as part of a legislative package that also includes funding for his promised border wall – which he has long said will ultimately be paid for by Mexico – and other immigration reforms, including an end to family-based migration, which the president has labeled “chain migration,” and a visa lottery program.

“I think it’s time to get the whole package,” the president told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade. “It’s not such a big deal, Brian. It's time to get the whole package.”