“It may fail, but I believe we owe it to the American people to try again,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said of a possible immigration deal. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Graham predicts new push for immigration deal

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday he expects another push in Congress to reach an immigration deal “by the spring, early summer.”

“There’s a deal to take care of them and get the border wall we desperately need, plus interior enforcement to make us safer,” the South Carolina Republican said on ABC’s “This Week.” “That deal can be done, and I'll make a prediction on this show that there’ll be another effort to marry up border security and DACA.”


Graham added that a deal is critical because he expects the courts to eventually rule that President Donald Trump has the authority to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

“It may fail, but I believe we owe it to the American people to try again,” the senator said. “And I think the president is open-minded to trying again.”

Trump’s order to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border “makes some sense,” Graham said, but only comprehensive immigration reform can address the underlying causes of illegal border crossings.

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The hawkish Armed Services Committee member also lauded Trump’s tough rhetoric Sunday on a reported Syrian chemical attack that killed dozens. But he warned that withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria, as Trump has repeatedly suggested, would send the country and region spiraling further.

“It’s the defining moment in his presidency, because he has challenged [Syrian President Bashar] Assad in the past not to use chemical weapons,” Graham said. “Assad is at it again. They see our resolve breaking; they see our determination to stay in Syria waning. And it's no accident they use chemical weapons. But President Trump can reset the table here.”

Graham said he wants the U.S. to destroy Assad’s air forces and train Syrians to fight the regime. Pulling out now, he added, would be a “complete, utter disaster.”