You can't on one hand claim Schumer offered full wall funding but Trump walked away from that, and then claim the funding is a big sticking point as to why Dems won't go along. Why was funding not a concern when Schumer made that offer for which Trump is allegedly entirely to blame for not making the deal? And that's before even addressing the laughable claim that Dems are suddenly concerned about spending (or the GOP for that matter), particularly when you consider the relatively minuscule share of our overall spending this would be, and ignore the spending that is required for when these folks arrive (police, fire, schools, etc.).

Linked is an NPR article on that initial proposal and a copy of that proposal. The very last line in the proposal addresses reallocating those cancelled spots to clear up the backlog of those waiting in their home country. While it doesn't specifically say they would do the same with reduced family migration visas, it also doesn't specifically say they would reduce legal immigration from 1M to 750K (but that was my understanding of what the effect would be) which Dems claim was a big reason why Chuck had to pull his offer. And logic would stand to reason that if you reduce family members that are eligible, those spots become available for non-family visa seekers that are part of that backlog and future visa applicants.

IMO this was a great deal, particularly if you want a permanent solution to DACA (which IMO everyone should want, and is the only option since we're never sending those folks back). If you want to negotiate a point somewhere between 750K and 1M, fine. My guess is that wouldn't have been a difficult ask in exchange for Trump being able to boast. The Dems should've jumped all over that, particularly given Schumer was already (supposedly) on board for full funding, and had they done so, those DACA folks would already be on that path to citizenship. If I was a DACA kid, or had some as close friends and family, I might be rather pissed that they didn't.

Edit: I stand corrected, it does specifically address clearing up the backlog in home countries in extended family migration, before limiting that to just spouses and dependents (although not then using those reductions to clear any other remaining backlog). It also says this would affect 1.8M DACA types, not the 1.6M I've often used. :-)
[Post edited by Hoodafan at 03/05/2019 12:47PM]