Deal on young immigrants not far off, says Trump
PRESIDENT Donald Trump is fairly close to finalising a deal with Democrats in Congress on allowing young immigrants to stay in the United States, he said yesterday.
“Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in the military? Really!” Trump tweeted.
“They have been in our country for many years through no fault of their own – brought in by parents at a young age,” he said.
Trump was repeating a key Democratic argument in support of allowing young people who arrived illegally in the US as children to stay.
Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, protected the so-called “Dreamers” through his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) order.
But Trump rescinded that executive order, and urged Congress to craft a legal solution within the next six months.
Trump later said: “I think we are fairly close but we have to get massive border security.
“We are working on a plan for DACA. People want to see that happen.
“You have 800 000 young people brought here, so we are working on a plan and will see how it works out.” Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi emerged from a “very productive” meeting with Trump late on Wednesday in which the talk focused on the Dreamers.
“There was no final deal, but we agreed that the president would support enshrining DACA protections into law, and encourage the House [of Representatives] and Senate to act,” they said.