President Donald Trump argued that allowing DACA recipients to stay in the United States would not be amnesty.
“We’re looking at allowing people to stay here,” Trump said to reporters in Florida on Thursday.
He insisted that his deal with Democrats on DACA recipients would not be amnesty.
“We’re not looking at citizenship, we’re not looking at amnesty,” Trump said.
On Air Force One however, a White House spokesperson confirmed that “legal citizenship over a period of time” for DACA recipients would likely be part of a deal. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted that the plan would offer them a “path to citizenship.”
Trump said that he spoke with Paul Ryan about his plan asserting that the speaker was “on board” with the idea for a deal with DACA.
“We’re talking about taking care of people, people that were brought here, people that have done a good job and were not brought here of their own volition,” he said, referring to illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children.
He clarified that he did not have a deal with Democrats yet on DACA, but indicated that they were close to an agreement.
Trump also reassured his supporters that he was still committed to building the wall on the Southern border, despite telling reporters that funding could be pushed back to a later date.
“The wall to me is vital,” he said, noting that it would have to be funded soon for any deal with Democrats.
“We have to have an understanding that whether it’s in the budget or some other vehicle, in a fairly short period of time,” he said. “The wall will be funded. Otherwise, we’re not doing any deal.”
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