President Trump’s top aides are pushing him to protect young people brought into the U.S. country illegally as children and use the issue as a bargaining chip for a larger immigration deal, despite the president’s campaign vow to deport so-called Dreamers, McClatchy Newspapers reports. The White House officials want Trump to strike an ambitious deal with Congress that offers Dreamers protection in exchange for legislation that pays for a border wall and more detention facilities, curbs legal immigration and implements E-verify, an online system that allows businesses to check immigration status.
“They are holding this out as a bargaining chip for other things,” said Ira Mehlman of the Federation for Immigration Reform, which opposes protecting Dreamers and is in talks with the administration. Attorney General Jeff Sessions opposes citizenship,sources said. “He getting conflicting advice inside, and that’s caused hesitation,” said Rosemary Jenks of which opposes protecting Dreamers. The 5-year-old program launched by the Obama administration and known as DACA — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — protects young people brought into the U.S. illegally as children by their undocumented parents from deportation and allows them to attain work permits. Ten states, led by Texas, have threatened to sue the U.S. government if it does not end the program by Sept. 5. During the campaign, Trump repeatedly said he would end the deferred deportation policy, calling it “amnesty” and an abuse of the president’s powers. After inauguration, he not only failed to act but pledged to treat Dreamers with “great heart.”