Donald Trump is “willing to shift” his stance on DACA, which means a deal protecting Dreamers may be coming
If you’re having a hard time keeping up with Donald Trump’s stance on DACA, you’re not alone. Earlier this year, on January 9th, a judge blocked Trump’s DACA repeal. The next day, when Senator Dianne Feinstein called for a “clean” bill to replace the DACA program, followed by larger immigration reform, Trump agreed immediately. He even said it should be “a bill of love.” Then, the government shut down at midnight on Friday, January 19th because Democrats and Republicans failed to reach a deal on spending. While Republicans demanded funding for a border wall, Democrats insisted that a long-term DACA replacement should be included.
So where does Donald Trump stand on DACA today? More new developments have emerged. And right now, signs point to the president supporting DACA. On Thursday, January 25th, Donald Trump told CNBC’s Squawk Box that Congress is “going to solve the DACA problem.”
“I think Cotton and Perdue and Goodlatte and the people that I’ve been dealing with — Cornyn, so many of the people — these are great people,” Trump said, referring to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). “These are people that really have shifted a lot. … And I think they’re willing to shift more, and so am I.”
So, why the “shift” in thinking around DACA?
There’s a plan in the works that would, theoretically, make both Democrats and Republicans happy. During the interview, CNBC’s Joe Kernen asked Trump if Congress would be supporting a path to citizenship for about 1.8 million illegal immigrants. Trump’s response? “If we make the right deal, I think they will.”
After the interview, White House officials got to work on a plan supporting a path to citizenship.
To win Republican support, the plan is said to cut family sponsorship of immigrants, tighten border security, and — yep — provide billions to fund Trump’s famous border wall with Mexico, Reuters reports.
Remember, Trump could unilaterally reverse his decision on DACA today, without an act of Congress. He’s playing this game now so that he can hold the fate of DREAMers hostage in an effort to fund the racist border wall.
— deray (@deray) January 26, 2018
"These are good people," Trump said of the Dreamers. "These are people that should be able to stay in this country."
We’ll hold you to that, Mr. President. It seems that right now, Donald Trump supports creating a path to citizenship for certain undocumented immigrants. But we hope it’s for the right reasons.