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What’s in the competing proposals to reopen the government – and what’s not

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Nearly five weeks into the partial government shutdown, Congress is struggling to cut a deal to reopen the federal government, with President Donald Trump refusing to sign off on any proposal that does not include $5.7 billion for his wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Democratic-controlled House, has passed several bills to reopen the government, but none of them contains wall funding. On Thursday, the GOP-controlled Senate is set to take its first votes on competing Republican and Democratic plans to end the shutdown, but neither bill is expected to win the 60 votes needed for passage.

Here’s a guide to the various proposals, alongside a much bigger deal Trump rejected in February 2018 that would have traded wall funding for a path to citizenship for 2 million undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children – a group known as “dreamers.”

Is there funding for a border wall?

Failed February 2018 deal:

A bipartisan compromise proposal that ultimately failed in the Senate in February did not include guaranteed funding for a border wall but created a $25 billion trust fund for border security measures that could include new walls. Trump rejected that proposal, and while it failed on a 54-to-45 vote, a proposal reflecting Trump’s priorities failed by a larger margin.

Trump’s proposal

$5.7 billion to build a wall across hundreds of miles along the southern border, plus funding for 750 more Border Patrol agents, 375 additional Customs and Border Protection officers and 2,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and support staff.

Senate Democrats’ bill

The Democratic proposal set for a vote Thursday includes no additional money for border security or any other government function. Instead, it opens the government through Feb. 8, under prior funding levels, to allow for further negotiations while also providing $14 billion in unrelated disaster-relief funding.

House bills

Since Democrats took control Jan. 3, the House has passed 10 government-funding bills that would reopen some or all agencies, none of which includes new border wall money.

What happens to the “dreamers?”

Failed February 2018 deal:

The failed February 2018 bipartisan compromise contained a path to citizenship for as many as 2 million young undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, including those enrolled in a program that delays their deportation, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

Trump’s proposal

Trump offered a three-year pause in his plan to scrap rules that shield some immigrants brought to the country as children from deportation, as well as to end “temporary protected status” (TPS) for immigrants from some Latin American and African nations. But this is not the permanent legal status or citizenship for which Democrats had hoped.

Senate Democrats’ bill

Senate Democrats do not address DACA or TPS in their government-funding stopgap, but many Democrats are willing to engage in talks about those programs as part of a larger immigration deal – talks they are willing to have only if the government reopens.

House bills

None of the House bills address DACA or TPS. While the Trump administration has moved to curtail those programs, courts have held up action, and Democrats are unwilling to negotiate amid a shutdown.

What about other changes to immigration?

Failed February 2018 deal:

The February 2018 Senate compromise would have curtailed the parents of young undocumented immigrants from winning a path to citizenship and eliminated some family-based visas. It also would have directed enforcement efforts at illegal immigrants with criminal records.

Trump’s proposal

The Republican legislation to be considered Thursday includes temporary protections for DACA and TPS recipients, but it also changes U.S. asylum law to allow authorities to screen asylum seekers abroad and to more quickly deport migrants who try to circumvent that process.

Senate Democrats’ bill

Democrats have no immigration-related provisions in their proposal. Some individual senators are open to negotiations on changes to the asylum process. But most Democrats are interested in a permanent solution for DACA and TPS recipients, one that would give them a path to citizenship.

House bills

None of the House-passed bills includes new immigration-related provisions. As in the Senate, Democrats are trained on securing permanent relief for immigrants covered by the programs Trump has threatened.

Would it reopen the government? For how long?

Congressional negotiators reached an agreement in the fall on funding for major parts of the federal government, including the Defense Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and Congress. But talks on funding the rest of the government fell apart due to the border wall standoff, prompting the passage of two short-term extensions before the shutdown began Dec. 22.

Trump’s proposal

The entire government would reopen for the remainder of fiscal 2019, which ends Sept. 30. Trump also included emergency funding for areas hit by natural disasters and an extension of the Violence Against Women Act.

Senate Democrats’ bill

Democrats are proposing to reopen the government only through Feb. 8, to make way for further talks on a border-security compromise. They include emergency disaster funding that would be available indefinitely.

House bills

Most of the bills the House has passed this year would fund agencies through Sept. 30. But Democrats have also passed a temporary funding extension through Feb. 28 to allow time to debate funding for a border wall, as well as a Homeland Security stopgap effective through Feb. 8.

How likely is each bill to succeed in ending the shutdown?

Before the shutdown, a stopgap proposal keeping the government open through Feb. 8 unanimously passed the Senate but never got a House vote after Trump pulled his support.

Trump’s proposal

Senate bills need 60 votes to pass, and there are 53 Republicans. While Trump included ideas that were intended to win moderate Democratic votes, those senators have shown little interest in the proposal.

Senate Democrats’ bill

While some Republicans had expressed support for a three-week reopening of the government to start a border-funding debate, Republican leaders have been urging GOP senators to oppose the Democratic proposal to force a different compromise.

House bills

Democrats have already passed several funding options. But because none of them includes new border wall funding, Trump has indicated he won’t sign any of them and Senate Republicans thus have not taken them up.