President Trump met with the top House and Senate Democrats, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, and they reached a deal to protect the almost 800,000 immigrants under DACA from deportation. The deal didn’t include the border wall as a condition.
The agreement was announced in a joint statement from Pelosi and Schumer, following a dinner the pair had with Trump at the White House on Wednesday night. This is the second time Trump has bypassed Republicans to meet with them.
In the statement, Pelosi and Schumer said: “We agreed to enshrine the protections of DACA into law quickly, and to work out a package of border security, excluding the wall, that’s acceptable to both sides.” They called the meeting “productive”.
The President stated about said deal: “More and more we’re trying to work things out together,” calling the development a “positive thing” for both parties. He continued: “If you look at some of the greatest legislation ever passed, it was done on a bipartisan manner. And so that’s what we’re going to give a shot”.
Even though President Donald Trump remains committed to building a barrier along the border between Mexico and the United States, he’s stated that he’s open to signing legislation protecting thousands of young immigrants under DACA from deportation, even if the bill does not include funding for his promised border wall.
But White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also stated in a press conference that Trump was “committed to the wall. It doesn’t have to be tied to DACA but its important and he will get it done.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan also sat down with Pelosi to talk immigration, said during an interview that deporting the Dreamers was “not in our nation’s interest,” and stated the president had “made the right call.”
Ryan continued: “I wanted him to give us time. I didn’t want this to be rescinded on Day One and create chaos,” arguing the time would allow Congress to “come up with the right kind of consensus and compromise to fix this problem.”
On his first meeting with the top Democrats, Trump—who was deeply disappointed by Republicans’ failure to pass a healthcare overhaul—infuriated many in his party when he reached a three-month deal with Schumer and Pelosi to raise the debt ceiling, keep the government running, and speed relief to states affected by recent hurricanes.
Trump terminated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on September 5, and he gave congressional leaders six months to come up with a legislative fix for the immigrants.