(AP) The top House and Senate Democrats have announced agreement with President Donald Trump to protect certain immigrants brought illegally to this country as children – along with some border security enhancements.
The agreement would specifically not include Trump’s long-sought border wall. It would enshrine protections for the nearly 800,000 immigrants who benefited from a program created by former President Barack Obama that Trump has announced he is ending.
The agreement was announced in a joint statement from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, following a dinner the pair had with Trump at the White House.
It marks the second time in two weeks that Trump has bypassed Republicans to deal with Pelosi and Schumer.
Trump has told lawmakers he’s open to signing legislation protecting thousands of young immigrants from deportation even if the bill does not include funding for his promised border wall.
But Trump remains committed to building a barrier along the U.S.-Mexican border.
During a White House meeting with moderate House members from both parties, Trump urged lawmakers to come up with a bipartisan solution for the nearly 800,000 young people who had been protected from deportation and given the right to work legally in the country under former Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.
Trump has given Congress six months to come up with a legislative fix for DACA recipients.
