There are the so-called "Dreamers," brought into the United States illegally by their parents, that Barack Obama protected from federal law. Then there's the border wall on which President Trump campaigned. And don't forget the fights erupting over "sanctuary" cities and states.
All of those issues are looming in Washington, where Democrats are expected to use budget negotiations to push for their demands.
For example, the Democrats want Congress to approve Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty.
Trump eliminated Obama's executive order establishing the amnesty and asked Congress to come up with a legislative solution.
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Meanwhile, Trump is talking regularly about building the border wall, a proposal on which he built campaign support in 2016.
He's indicated he's open to compromise, and the intrigue increases because the position of congressional Republicans is anything but clear.
Trump electrified Washington when he recently tweeted:
Democrats are doing nothing for DACA - just interested in politics. DACA activists and Hispanics will go hard against Dems, will start “falling in love” with Republicans and their President! We are about RESULTS.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
The statement would suggest the president will push for amnesty as part of any comprehensive immigration deal.
However, he may also be using DACA as a bargaining chip to achieve other priorities on immigration, such as the introduction of a merit-based system and funding for the border wall.
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, argues there should be no DACA amnesty in the upcoming government funding bill.
But in an interview with MSNBC, he made it clear DACA was going to be used as a bargaining chip.
"We're going to get a deal," he told Chuck Todd. "We have been working behind the scenes not only with members but with the White House as well to try to do that. But the president has been very specific on what he wants to see."
Former Homeland Security secretaries Jeh Johnson, Janet Napolitano and Michael Chertoff, have been calling for a DACA amnesty.
But current Secretary of Homeland Security Kristjen Nielson says a border wall needs to come before DACA.
She said building a wall is "first and foremost."
Yet there is no possibility the border wall will be fully funded in the next year. The president is only requesting $3.2 billion, which Nielson called a "down payment" for the wall rather than the full $20 billion needed to build the whole thing.
Even that may be too much for the Republicans.
Bloomberg reports many Republicans have largely avoided talking about the border wall.
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., simply said the wall is part of the discussion.
"There is an agreement that can be reached," he told Fox News. "It's got to start with border security, though, and putting money in place to start building the wall as President Trump said. He campaigned on this and he won the presidency with this being a front and center issue."
Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies predicts the extremism of the Democratic base will make it impossible for progressives to strike a deal, even if that deal serves their interests.
"Their craze about the wall – their opposition to it because of its association with Trump – is preventing them from getting a better deal from their own perspective," he told the Washington Examiner. "There would be people storming Nancy Pelosi's office and picketing Schumer's house if they went with a deal that funded the border wall."
Of immediate concern is the possibility of a government shutdown later in January if the two sides cannot agree on a plan to keep operations funded with, or without, amnesty for illegal aliens.