Trump says ‘no deal’ on immigrants

DONALD Trump yesterday said ‘no more’ to a deal to help ‘Dreamer’ immigrants – a move that could affect the children of undocumented Irish in America.

The US president also threatened to pull out of a free-trade agreement with Mexico unless it does more to stop people from crossing into the US. ‘No more DACA!’ Mr Trump tweeted yesterday of the programme which was created in 2012 to provide temporary protection and work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants who are living in the US illegally after being brought here as children.

He also said Mexico must ‘stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA’ – and added: ‘Need wall!’ The US, Canada and Mexico are participating in tense negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement at Mr Trump’s insistence. The president says NAFTA is bad for the US.

‘Mexico has got to help us at the border,’ Mr Trump told reporters before attending Easter services at an Episcopal church near his home in Palm Beach, Florida. ‘If they’re not going to help us at the border, it’s a very sad thing between our two countries. A lot of people are coming in because they want to take advantage of DACA,’ he added.

Mr Trump ended the DACA programme last year, but gave Congress six months to pass legislation enshrining it. A deal has so far proved elusive and Mr Trump has blamed the Democrats for this.

It was not immediately clear what he was referring to when he said people are coming to take advantage of the programme.

The president did not explain what he meant when questioned by reporters as he entered the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea with First Lady Melania Trump and his daughter Tiffany. Addressing reporters briefly before entering the church, he again blamed Democrats for failing to protect the ‘Dreamers’.

He said: ‘They had a great chance. The Democrats blew it.’

The Department of Homeland Security is not issuing new permits, though existing ones can be renewed. The Obama administration allowed sign-ups during a set period of time, and the programme is closed to new entrants. Proposed DACA deals crafted by lawmakers and rejected by Mr Trump were also not open to new participants.news@dailymail.ie