A senior White House official on Thursday denied reports that there any discussions about extending the executive amnesty program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), before the election.
“Totally false,” the senior White House official told Breitbart News when asked to respond to emerging reports that President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is leading meetings to negotiate a DACA deal before the election. “No, not even being discussed,” the senior White House official added when asked to confirm there will be no DACA deal before the November elections:
The White House’s formal denial of these reports comes as Newsmax’s Emerald Robinson reported on Thursday that Kushner was leading efforts to try to broker a DACA deal before November’s elections:
President Trump pushing for some kind of amnesty deal before the election could be politically toxic to his supporters. In 2016, he ran hard against any amnesty efforts and has taken a hard line on the issue of immigration as president. Backtracking on that before November could depress support from his base, thereby hurting his chances against Democrat Joe Biden in the general election.
While the White House is formally denying these reports of a coming amnesty deal, others on Capitol Hill have suggested that there have been rumblings of such meetings. It remains to be seen where this goes, but the White House’s formal denial of these reports at this stage means that even if early meetings were occurring, it is unlikely this issue is going anywhere from here on forward–especially as the nation reels from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic paired with violent riots tearing apart American cities. With upwards of 40 million Americans unemployed because of the pandemic, one GOP senate source told Breitbart News it would be unwise for the administration to put any focus on foreigners, especially those who came to the United States illegally.