White House pledges to publicly set out details on possible DACA deal with Congress

A day after President Donald Trump seemed to muddy the waters on a possible legislative deal with Democrats in Congress over the future of young illegal immigrant “Dreamers,” the White House on Friday promised that officials would clearly set out in the next seven to ten days what items Mr. Trump wants to see on immigration enforcement in any deal on the DACA program.

“The President supports the DACA program and supports making a deal on that, but again, that has to include that massive border security,” said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

On Thursday, the President said he was not for ‘amnesty’ for any of the Dreamers – the White House today made the argument that since DACA is just a temporary way to prevent people from being deported, the issue of a pathway to citizenship for those in the program is not on the table.

As to what the White House wants in exchange for DACA, Sanders rattled off a series of items, but said a final list would be set out soon by the Trump Administration.

Some of those included:

+ An end to sanctuary cities

+ Expedited removal of illegal immigrants

+ More immigration judges

+ Reforms in legal immigration (the RAISE Act)

Democratic leaders had thought their agreement with the President included his support for the “Dream” Act – which would allow those younger illegal immigrants to reach U.S. citizenship, after a series of hurdles – but that seems to be in limbo at this point.

Democrats also weren’t sure what to make of the President’s Thursday statements on DACA, which rapidly moved from ‘no deal,’ to ‘fairly close’ to a deal, to ‘no amnesty.’

That uncertainty has also been there for Republicans as well.

President Trump has set a deadline for action in early March, but lawmakers in both parties say an earlier resolution would be a better choice.

WSOC