President Donald Trump said to reporters Thursday that he would be open to a major concession on the DACA deal that is being negotiated with Democrats — he said he would be willing to allow them a path to citizenship.
Trump told reporters that the "Dreamers" could have a path to citizenship, but it would take much longer than many would like.
The Washington Post's David Nakamura tweeted, "Trump spoke to us at WH says he’s open to 10-12 year path to citizenship for 690,000 DACA recipients."
Even more importantly, he told reporters that he wanted $25 billion for funding of the famed border wall he promised on the campaign trail to his supporters.
There had been much consternation by the possibility that the Trump administration would have begun to deport the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients on March 5, when his deadline expired for Congress to extend the amnesty.
Trump told reporters that the Dreamers need not worry about deportation:
Democrats still need to negotiate the rest of the details in order to achieve their DACA deal. Less than 24 hours before Trump's concession, he made it clear that he would not make a deal without border wall funding.
"Cryin’ Chuck Schumer fully understands, especially after his humiliating defeat, that if there is no Wall, there is no DACA," the president tweeted from his official account. "We must have safety and security, together with a strong Military, for our great people!"
Many illegal immigrant advocacy groups decried the decision by Democrat leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to vote with the Republicans to re-open the government after a 69-hour shutdown.
While they had been demanding a deal on DACA, Democrats caved when moderate members of Congress saw that they would be blamed for the shutdown.
Carlos Garcia
Staff Writer