GOP ‘shifting’ on Dreamers
Trump: There’ll be a path
President Trump predicted on Friday that some GOP lawmakers who have taken tough stances on immigration would eventually agree to offer citizenship to Dreamers.
“We’re going to solve the DACA problem,” Trump told CNBC in an interview from Davos, Switzerland.
He said Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, John Cornyn of Texas and David Perdue of Georgia and Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia would be willing to shift some positions.
“These are people that really have shifted a lot . . . And I think they’re willing to shift more, and so am I,” Trump said. “These are people that have very strong opinions on DACA and on immigration generally, and I happen to think they’re largely right.”
Asked if these lawmakers would agree to back a path to citizenship, Trump said, “If we make the right deal, I think they will.”
The White House said on Thursday that a deal must include a $25 billion “trust fund” for a border wall, a drastic reduction of family reunification — or “chain migration” — and an end to the visa lottery program.
About 800,000 undocumented young people are now protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
In the fall, Trump rescinded President Barack Obama’s executive order that created DACA and gave Congress six months to come up with a solution.
Later Friday, Trump returned to clashing with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“DACA has been made increasingly difficult by the fact that Cryin’ Chuck Schumer took such a beating over the shutdown that he is unable to act on immigration!” he tweeted.
Schumer had earlier blasted Trump over his lengthy list of demands.
“While @realDonaldTrump finally acknowledged that the Dreamers should be allowed to stay here and become citizens, he uses them as a tool to tear apart our legal immigration system and adopt the wish list that anti-immigration hardliners have advocated for for years,” he wrote.