Democrats reject offer on amnesty by Trump in bid for wall

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who is pursuing a 2020 presidential bid, said on CNN's "State of the Union" that her counter-offer to Trump would be "what we put on the table a year ago and voted for, which was to protect all dreamers".

In his first national address from the White House's Oval Office, Trump makes his case for the border wall, saying there's an "humanitarian crisis" at the southern border.

His comment drew immediate pushback from some Democrats, including Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who said in a tweet that Trump "is no MLK" and that the vice president owes an apology to the country and King's memory. The president has dug in on wall funding, resulting in a government shutdown beginning in late December.

The President also continued his demand for border wall funding, including $5.7 billion for 230 miles of construction of the wall in his plan.

Democratic leaders rejected out of hand Mr. Trump's compromise proposed Saturday for a three-year protection of about 700,000 immigrants who arrived illegally as children in exchange for $5.7 billion for the border wall or barrier.

The proposal would protect immigrants brought to the US illegally as children. A federal judge in Texas refused to order to halt DACA in August 2018, although he said that it was likely unlawful and predicted that the move to stop the programme would eventually succeed.

Trump defended his call to offer deportation protection to 740,000 immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children and thousands more from Latin America and African nations who have been living in the USA temporarily but are facing orders to return home. He said some Covington students started shouting "Build the Wall" and insulting Native Americans.

With hundreds of thousands of federal workers set to face another federal pay period without paychecks, the issue passed to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed to bring Trump's proposal to the floor this week.

"What is original in the President's proposal is not good".

What Was the Democrats' Reaction?

The president tweeted: "Nancy Pelosi and some of the Democrats turned down my offer yesterday before I even got up to speak".

Describing a U.S. immigration system that he called "badly broken", Trump said, "I am here today to break the logjam and provide Congress with a path forward to end the government shutdown and solve the crisis along the southern border".

"With bipartisan cooperation, the Senate can send a bill to the House quickly so that they can take action as well", McConnell said.

The senior Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, struck a similar tone: "I cannot support the proposed offer as reported, and do not believe it can pass the Senate", he said. Tying the reopening of government to a policy proposal - from either party - is a perversion of our constitutional system and should not be encouraged.

Some conservatives also voiced their opposition to the deal. The president had indicated he would sign temporary funding measures to keep the government open, but then he faced a backlash in conservative media over it. "But if we reward this behaviour, it will never end, and the pain and chaos will be worse in the future". Despite saying publicly last month that he would be proud to own a shutdown over the wall, and privately displaying confidence that his base would stick with him through the fight, Trump has been dismayed to find otherwise in recent days.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also dug in during an appearance in NY.

Carl Tobias, the Williams Chair in law at the University of Richmond, told CNBC that it might as well not pass in the Senate and "surely not in the House". Lindsey Graham supported Trump's proposal.

Opinion polls suggest most Americans blame Mr Trump more than the Democrats for the shutdown.