Trump denies he and Democrat leaders agreed to protect 'dreamers'

Views 18

US President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders in the US Congress have agreed to work together on legislation to protect so-called Dreamers, the illegal immigrants who were children when they entered the United States, the lawmakers said on Wednesday (September 13), although a dispute erupted over exactly what had been agreed.

Following a dinner with Trump at the White House, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said the “productive meeting” focused on “DACA,” a program established by former President Barack Obama.

“We agreed to enshrine the protections of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) into law quickly, and to work out a package of border security, excluding the wall, that’s acceptable to both sides,” Schumer and Pelosi said in a statement.

All year, Democrats have insisted that they will block any legislation that contains funding for a wall along the length of the U.S. border with Mexico, a top Trump campaign goal that many Republicans in Congress also do not support.

DACA brought “Dreamers” out of the shadows. Now, some plan to only get louder https://t.co/4p536YOURe pic.twitter.com/9BeeVB3Hbd— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 14, 2017

While White House officials have suggested legislation on DACA could move forward without wall funding, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders disputed the characterization that a deal had been reached to leave it out of any legislation focused on the Dreamers.

“While DACA and border security were both discussed, excluding the wall was certainly not agreed to,” she said on Twitter.

Throughout his 2016 campaign for president and since taking office in January, Trump has demanded the construction of a wall to keep out illegal immigrants and drugs. He initially said Mexico would pay for the wall but has requested money from the U.S. Congress after the government of Mexico refused to pay.

The dinner was the latest effort in a new initiative by Trump to work with opposition party Democrats on major legislation.

Following the dinner, a White House official said the president, Schumer and Pelosi discussed tax reform, immigration, border security, infrastructure investments and trade as part of Trump’s bid to reach out to Democrats.

They battled Harvey. Now Texas #Dreamers“ face uncertainty. We must pass the #DREAMAct & #ProtectDreamers. https://t.co/XotpGC0xCC nbcnews— Hispanic Caucus (HispanicCaucus) September 13, 2017

#DREAMers are not entitled to make demands of USA. Citizenship is a privilege, not a right! https://t.co/Edd9gS8r9Npic.twitter.com/USw4W3FUuI— Nick Short (@PoliticalShort) September 14, 2017

Share This Video


Download

  
Report form
RELATED VIDEOS