WASHINGTON--U.S. President Donald Trump is ready to sign on to a plan that would open a path to citizenship for as many as 1.8 million "Dreamers," young immigrants brought illegally to the country as children, senior White House officials said on Thursday.
The White House presented the offer as a major concession aimed at attracting enough votes from Democrats. But it includes a number of elements such as tightening border security and deterring new immigrants to appeal to Republican hardliners.
"This is kind of a bottom line for the president," a senior official told reporters, saying it would be up to lawmakers to determine some of the details. "If it's realistic, then he'll sign it. If it isn't realistic, then he won't sign it."
Trump's plan, which the White House hopes will be first voted on in the Senate in early February, would require Congress to set up a $25 billion "trust fund" to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico, and invest in better protections at the northern border with Canada.
Trump, whose hardline immigration stance was a key part of his 2016 presidential campaign, said in September he was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program for Dreamers that was created by Democratic predecessor Barack Obama unless Congress came up with a new law. The DACA protections apply to about 700,000 people, but White House officials estimated there were at least that many illegal immigrants who qualified for the program but did not sign up for it.
Officials said the 1.8 million people could apply to become citizens in 10 to 12 years providing they had jobs and did not commit crimes.
The fight over DACA, which is set to expire in March, was part of the standoff between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate that resulted in a three-day government shutdown that ended on Monday. They agreed to extend funding until Feb. 8, leaving a small window to come to a deal on immigration. Trump's plan will help those talks, said Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
"I am hopeful that as discussions continue in the Senate on the subject of immigration, members on both sides of the aisle will look to this framework for guidance as they work towards an agreement," McConnell said.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis, one of the lawmakers working across the aisle on a possible compromise, praised Trump’s “realistic” plan. “The framework proposes policies supported by both parties and the American people,” Tillis said in a statement.
