The whole point of the last government shutdown is suspiciously absent from a new bill to avert another one

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President Donald Trump

• President Donald Trump has rejected the latest bipartisan proposal to codify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program into law.
• The bill from Sens. John McCain and Chris Coons would give a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and conduct a review of border security.
• Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-highest ranking Senate Democrat, said a DACA deal is unlikely before Thursday's government shutdown deadline.

Talks around the codification of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program have become disjointed, as President Donald Trump and House Republicans continue to push for hardline changes to legal immigration programs as part of the package while the Senate attempts to craft a skinnier deal.

The federal government shutdown last month led to promises around finding a permanent solution for the program as a March 5 deadline rapidly approaches. But as Congress seeks to avoid another shutdown by Thursday, there is no deal in sight. There is no mention of immigration in this round of funding legislation.

The latest bipartisan attempt at an agreement, unveiled Monday from Sens. John McCain and Chris Coons, was quickly rejected by the White House due to its lack of explicit funding for a wall along the US border with Mexico, as well as the legislation's narrower scope.

The bill would give DACA recipients a pathway to citizenship while also authorizing a review of current border security needs, with no commitment to future funding.

Trump also seemed to take a swipe at the deal in a tweet on Monday.

"Any deal on DACA that does not include STRONG border security and the desperately needed WALL is a total waste of time," Trump said. "March 5th is rapidly approaching and the Dems seem not to care about DACA. Make a deal!"

Trump's attacks on the McCain-Coons bill echo his rejection of a previous bipartisan Senate deal from Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin, which did include funding for increased border security.

The developments come as lawmakers from both parties attempt to preserve DACA, the Obama-era program that protects from deportation around 700,000 unauthorized immigrants who came to the US as minors. Trump said he would end the program in September, giving Congress until March to codify it into law.

Both Trump and House Republicans are pushing for a bill that not only codifies DACA and funds the wall, but also tightens the family unification rules for immigrants and ends the diversity visa lottery program. Given the gulf between the Senate and the House, a deal does not appear on the horizon.

Durbin, the Senate minority whip, admitted that a deal is unlikely before the next February 8 deadline to pass a new funding bill.

"There is not likely to be a DACA deal, though we're working every single day, on telephone calls and person to person, to try to reach this bipartisan agreement," Durbin said Sunday on CNN.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ended January's three-day government shutdown in part due to a commitment from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to address DACA by the next deadline.