Sen. Marsha Blackburn on the deal to end the shutdown and what's next

Sen. Marsha Blackburn spent her first break from the U.S. Senate crisscrossing Tennessee, setting up field offices and talking about the partial federal government shutdown.

Just minutes before Blackburn sat down for an interview with The Jackson Sun, President Donald Trump announced that a deal had been reached to reopen the government for three weeks.

"The compromise does get federal workers paid and back to work," Blackburn said. "It does not solve the issue with the border. Border patrol has consistently said for the last decade they need three things. They need a barrier, they need technology and they need more officers and agents."

Democrats have largely dismissed those assertions.

Data from Customs and Border Patrol show the southwest border apprehensions were as high as 1.6 million in 2000, while in 2017 just over 300,000 people were apprehended at the southwest border.

DACA or protection for 'dreamers'

Trump's most recent offer to Democrats was three years of status protection for the nearly 700,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children in exchange for $5.7 billion in wall funding, along with other changes to the immigration law.

Blackburn supported this deal voting in favor of it in a bill that failed to pass the Senate on Thursday.

"The president has four offers on the table, and the Democrats have not come to the table with one single counter offer and any negotiation requires you have a counter offer," Blackburn said. "So far the president has been at $30 billion, $25 billion, $12 billion and $5.7 billion."

Democrats rejected this offer and have refused to negotiate, saying they wouldn't negotiate with the president or Republicans as long as the government was still shut down.

"I've talked to a lot of people who have dreamers in their families or their church group is working with a family that has a dreamer," Blackburn said. "If I were one of those families, I would be incredibly upset with Democrats because there is legalization with dreamers in the offer. Speaker Pelosi is saying no to that but that is something dreamers want."

The Senate approved the bill to end the shutdown by a voice vote on Friday. The bill now goes to the House which is expected to pass it.

Reach Adam Friedman by email at afriedman@jacksonsun.com, by phone at 731-431-8517 or follow him on Instagram or Twitter @friedmanadam5.