Trump plays left, right in drive to protect ‘Dreamers’
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump and top aides have urged conservative Republicans in Congress to craft legislation protecting ‘ Dreamers’ brought illegally to the United States as children, a move that could jeopardise efforts to work with Democrats on the issue.
Trump, vice- president Mike Pence, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and other officials have reached out to more than a dozen Republicans, including some of the loudest anti- immigration voices in Congress.
The consultations followed a dinner Trump held earlier this month with the top two congressional Democrats, Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Nancy Pelosi.
The president discussed with the two Democrats legislation to shield from deportation roughly 800,000 young immigrants known as Dreamers.
In comments that angered Trump’s conservative political base, White House officials said Trump would not necessarily insist on funding for a wall on the US-Mexico border as a condition for helping the Dreamers.
Trump’s pledge to build a border wall was a central theme of his 2016 presidential campaign.
Earlier this month, Trump rescinded an Obama- era programme that shielded Dreamers from deportation, but gave the Republican- controlled Congress – long gridlocked over immigration – six months to come up with legislation to address the issue. — Reuters