DON IMMI-GYRATION
May pivot with plan to keep ‘Dreamers’
President Trump on Tuesday will announce his decision on the fate of nearly 800,000 young immigrants protected under an Obama administration order, according to the White House.
“We’re in the process of finalizing that decision and those details, and we’re actually going to make that announcement on Tuesday of next week,” spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during Friday’s press briefing.
“The president’s priorities on immigration are to create a system that encourages legal immigration and benefits our economy and American workers.”
Trump, she said, “loves people, and he wants to make sure that this decision is done correctly.”
Earlier, in an Oval Office meeting with members of the clergy to declare Sunday as a “Day of Prayer” for victims of Tropical Storm Harvey, Trump was asked if the so-called Dreamers should be worried.
“We love the Dreamers,” he responded.
One possible compromise to deporting so many immigrants is be- ing hatched by Republican lawmakers led by North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who are crafting a bill they call the conservative Dream Act.
Tillis’ plan would offer an eventual path to US citizenship for immigrants who entered the US illegally before Jan. 1, 2012, and were 16 years old or younger.
It would grant high school graduates without a serious criminal record conditional immigration status for five years. During that period, if they earn a higher-education degree, serve in the military or stay employed, they could apply for permanent residency and, eventually, citizenship.
Republicans said that plan could appease Trump’s base and not face blowback from the Dreamers and their supporters.
Earlier Friday, the president was calling political allies to discuss the issue, including those who want the program killed.
One immigration hard-liner told Trump he would be committing “political suicide” with his base if he caved in on a campaign pledge to get rid of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a source familiar with the deliberations told The Post.