Trump floats short-term deal on DACA and border wall funding

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has offered to drop demands for changes to legal immigration preferences to ease the way to a deal providing new temporary protection to young undocumented immigrants in the country in exchange for border wall funding, said a person familiar with the offer.

Trump had insisted on a broader agreement that also would end immigration preferences for relatives of legal U.S. residents and eliminate visas awarded by lottery to applicants from under-represented countries, a demand that Democratic leaders rejected.

White House officials have shared the potential new offer with Republican congressional leaders, the person said.

The shift brings the two sides closer to a deal that would fund construction for early phases of Trump’s promised border wall and temporarily restore protections against deportation for young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, a group advocates have dubbed “dreamers.”

In September, Trump canceled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program established by former President Barack Obama, though the deportation protections remain in place under a temporary court order amid a lawsuit over the action.

One idea that has been proposed is a threeyear extension of the DACA program in exchange for three years of funding for border wall construction.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The offer was reported earlier by The Washington Post.