‘$30-B FUND MAY OPEN DOOR TO CITIZENSHIP FOR YOUNG IMMIGRANTS’

WASHINGTON— US President Donald Trump offered to open citizenship to young illegal immigrants, known as “Dreamers,” in exchange for $30 billion for security measures, including the Mexico border wall.

“We’re going to morph into it,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s going to happen, at some point in the future, over a period of 10 to 12 years.”

Trump’s pronouncements came as the White House announced it would be unveiling a legislative framework on immi- gration next week that it hoped could pass both the House and the Senate.

Preview

The president’s remarks amounted to a preview of that framework.

He said he would propose $25 billion for building a wall on the US-Mexico border and $5 billion for other security measures.

But immediately after Trump spoke, a senior White House official said the offer of citizenship was just a “discussion point” in the plan.

Despite his previously harsh rhetoric, Trump told reporters he had a message for the Dreamers: “Tell ’em not to be concerned, OK? Tell ’em not to worry. We’re going to solve the problem.”

Limits

Trump has said repeatedly that any deal to protect those immigrants from deportation is contingent on money for the border wall and other security measures.

Trump also wants to limit the family members that immigrants are able to sponsor to join them in the United States and either replace or transform a visa lottery aimed at increasing diversity.

Trump has given Congress until March to come up with a plan to protect the nearly 700,000 Dreamers who faced deportation after he said he would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program last year.—