US President Donald Trump has pitched opponents a compromise deal to "break the logjam" and end the longest US government shutdown in history.
He's offered to extend protections for undocumented migrants brought into the country as children, but hasn't budged on his demands for billions of dollars to build a wall on the border with Mexico.
"This is a common sense compromise that both parties should embrace," he said in a televised address on Sunday (NZ time).
"There is a humanitarian and security crisis on our southern border that requires urgent action. Illegal immigration reduces wages and strains public services. The lack of border control provides a gateway, a very wide and option gateway, for criminals and gang members to enter the United States."
Illegal immigration across the southern border is actually at a 20-year-low, figures show.
"Both sides in Washington must simply come together, listen to each other, put down their armour, build trust, reach across the aisle and find solution," Mr Trump added.
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The children, known as Dreamers, are allowed to work in the US but not get citizenship. Previous attempts by the Trump administration to can the scheme have been stymied by the courts. There are around 700,000 dreamers, according to BBC News.
Mr Trump also offered to extend visas for refugees from wars and disasters by another three years, which he previously opposed.
Democrats, expecting the offers, rejected them in advance - saying they would not accept any deal that guaranteed billions of dollars on a wall.
"Democrats were hopeful that the President was finally willing to re-open government and proceed with a much-need discussion to protect the border," said top-ranking Democrat and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"It is unlikely that any one of these provisions alone would pass the House, and taken together, they are a non-starter… [They] do not represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people's lives."
Nearly 1 million workers for the federal government have gone without pay since last year. Polls show most voters blame Mr Trump for the shutdown, now in its 29th day.
Newshub.