Trump Confirms Support for Law to Protect ‘Dreamers’
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 00:31
Trump: ‘We Are Working On a Plan for DACA’
Video President Trump said that he supported legislation that would protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation and that the border wall “will come later.”
TOM BRENNER/THE NEW YORK TIMES
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and YAMICHE ALCINDOR
SEPTEMBER 14, 2017
WASHINGTON — President Trump confirmed on Thursday morning that he supports legislation that would protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation and would deliver a “massive” increase in border security — but not with a wall on the southern border.
Mr. Trump’s comments, both in Washington and in Florida, affirmed the broad parameters of an agreement that Democratic leaders unilaterally announced Wednesday night after
dinner with the president at the White House.
In remarks to reporters as he left the White House on Thursday, Mr. Trump said, “We’re working on a plan for DACA,” referring to protections for immigrants who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He confirmed, “the wall will come later.”
Mr. Trump’s comments seemed to
contradict his own Twitter posts early Thursday morning when he said, “no deal was made last night on DACA.” But they were very much in line with Democratic leaders’ statements. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, also stopped short of calling their agreement a “deal” on Thursday.
But she told reporters, “We agreed to a plan to protect our nation’s Dreamers from deportation,” adding that there would be a “border security measure that does not include a wall” included in immigration legislation.
Republican leaders were contacted after the fact. In a curt statement, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, confirmed that the president called him Thursday morning to discuss immigration issues.
“As Congress debates the best ways to address illegal immigration through strong border security and interior enforcement, DACA should be part of those discussions. We look forward to receiving the Trump administration’s legislative proposal as we continue our work on these issues,” he said.
At this point, any legislative proposal appears to be coming from the minority party. A senior Democratic official familiar with Wednesday’s dinner conversation said the agreement was specific, drawing on language from Mr. Trump’s own budget request. That request included sensors to beef up border monitoring, rebuilding roads along the border, drones and air support for border enforcement.
“It’s basically his budget request, if you take away more agents and take away the wall,” the official said, indicating that Ms. Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, entered the White House prepared with an offer. “We took from that what he was interested in, and said these are the types of things we can negotiate.”
Even if Mr. Trump and Democratic leaders agree to support legislation to protect the young undocumented immigrants, any proposal would need the support of Republicans, who control the House and Senate. Democrats say they would like to hash out a specific agreement on the border security component with the White House before presenting it to Republican leaders, but ultimately, Mr. McConnell and Speaker Paul D. Ryan will decide what comes to a vote.
Republicans were more befuddled by the developments than angry.
Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, said Mr. Trump had not given anything away, but merely opened a conversation that ultimately puts the onus on Democrats.
“I think the real question is, can the Democrats get on board with something that is fundamentally conservative and solves this problem for the long term, not just the short term,” Mr. Tillis said. “He hasn’t given up anything. He had a discussion with them, which he has to have.”
Immigration advocates in the Senate actually cheered him on.
“The president is trying to cut a deal that I think would be good for the country as a whole. He is not the president of 15 percent of the population. He is the president of all of us,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and a consistent advocate of legislation to legalize many undocumented immigrants. “And if he could bring Democrats and Republicans together to find a place for these kids to stay in the country they know, and secure our border, that would be a giant step forward.”
If a deal risks alienating the president’s base, said Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona and another immigration advocate, so be it.
“I think he ought to do the right thing and the right thing it to protect these DACA kids,” he said.
But conservatives were incredulous. The president said he would give Congress six months to come up with a legislative response before he officially ends the Obama-era executive order that extended legal protections to young, undocumented immigrants.
“They gave us six months. I’d be shocked if the president turned around on that in what, six days,” quipped Representative Gary Palmer, Republican of Alabama.
A joint statement on Thursday from Mr. Schumer and Ms. Pelosi stressed the work still to be done.
“As
we said last night, there was no final deal, but there was agreement” that Mr. Trump would support a law for DACA protections, they wrote.
“What remains to be negotiated are the details of border security, with a mutual goal of finalizing all details as soon as possible,” the Democratic leaders said. “While both sides agreed that the wall would not be any part of this agreement, the president made clear he intends to pursue it at a later time, and we made clear we would continue to oppose it.”
Mr. Trump’s Twitter posts seemingly shooting down reports of a DACA deal came after some Republicans criticized him for his
making deals with Democrats, particularly if the accord excludes the border wall, a move that could jeopardize the support of his own base. Mr. Trump appeared to address that in a
subsequent Twitter post: “The WALL, which is already under construction in the form of new renovation of old and existing fences and walls, will continue to be built.”
Later, he told reporters, “The wall will come later, we’re right now renovating large sections of wall, massive sections, making it brand new.”
In another pair of tweets on Thursday morning, Mr. Trump questioned whether anyone actually wanted to deport these young immigrants, raising more questions about the president’s intentions for this program. On Sept. 5, the president moved to end the DACA program and called on Congress to pass a replacement.
Mr. Trump has told Congress it has six months to find a legislative fix to shield the young immigrants that President Barack Obama gave protections to through an executive order. But Congress is struggling to find a way to pass a law to give the young immigrants quick protections, and prospects for quickly enacting a replacement seemed dim late Wednesday.
The program benefits about 800,000 immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children. It allows them to remain in the country and gives them the right to work legally without fear of immediate deportation.
Mr. Trump has sent mixed messages on the program. He has said he would end it, then he gave Congress time to come up with a legislative solution after he was widely criticized in the media for his decision to end DACA. Mr. Trump has also said he would reconsider the matter if Congress failed to act, even as his own attorney general called the program unconstitutional.
Wednesday’s dinner followed an Oval Office meeting last week with Democratic leadership when Mr. Trump
sided with the Democrats about the debt ceiling — over the objections of Republicans and his own Treasury secretary.
Conservatives attacked Mr. Trump after Wednesday’s reported deal.
Representative Steve King, Republican of Iowa,
wrote on Twitter that if the reports were true, “Trump base is blown up, destroyed, irreparable, and disillusioned beyond repair. No promise is credible.”
The headline “Amnesty Don” led the website Breitbart, run by Mr. Trump’s former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon.
After the dinner, while cable news channels and websites were reporting on the prospects of a deal, Mr. Trump took to Twitter to revisit a favorite topic, “Crooked Hillary,” his nickname for his former presidential rival Hillary Clinton.
“Crooked Hillary Clinton blames everybody (and every thing) but herself for her election loss,” Mr. Trump tweeted.
