Watch President Trump and congressional leaders debate immigration policy pic.twitter.com/QSnhJmhfnF
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) January 9, 2018
During a Tuesday White House meeting between Democrat and Republican members of Congress, President Trump looked very much like someone agreeing to a broad-brush deal that would provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants. While the meeting was called in order to negotiate a short-term deal that would protect undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children as well as avoid a government shutdown next week, Trump said he would be willing to “take the heat” from his hardline supporters if there was also money for a border wall and an end to chain migration included in any deal.
At one point during the meeting, Trump appeared to agree with Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), only for House Republican Kevin McCarthy to remind President Trump what the GOP position on the issue was.
In which Trump agrees to Dianne Feinstein’s call for a clean DACA codification bill, and Kevin McCarthy jumps in to tell him that’s not the Republican position. https://t.co/31aXzABmwo
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) January 9, 2018
Nevertheless, Trump repeatedly mentioned how the two sides need to find common ground. “I really do believe Democrat and Republican, the people sitting in this room, really want to get something done,” Trump said.
Democrat Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said that Democrats would support some border security measures, but their primary focus was on codifying DACA protections before deportations can begin. “Lives are hanging in the balance,” Sen. Durbin said.
As with previous instances where Trump has appeared to be amenable to letting Dreamers stay in the U.S., Ann Coulter is taking this all (not) very well.
Nothing Michael Wolff could say about @realDonaldTrump has hurt him as much as the DACA lovefest right now.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) January 9, 2018
(Via NBC News & New York Times)