WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump has expressed a willingness to reach a bipartisan agreement to protect young illegal immigrants brought to the country as children but is insisting on major concessions from Democrats.
Trump stressed in a post on Twitter on Friday that there cannot be a deal on the program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals without funding for his controversial border wall and other reforms to the immigration system.
'The Democrats have been told, and fully understand, that there can be no DACA without the desperately needed WALL at the Southern Border and an END to the horrible Chain Migration & ridiculous Lottery System of Immigration etc.,' Trump tweeted. 'We must protect our Country at all cost!'
Trump rescinded the DACA program in September with a six-month delay, setting up a March 5th deadline for lawmakers to reach an agreement on protections for the illegal immigrants known as Dreamers.
Democrats have previously offered to beef up border security in order to secure protections for Dreamers but remain opposed to building Trump's proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The president's insistence that any deal include border wall funding could hamper negotiations over a government spending bill, as Democrats have demanded the legislation include protections for Dreamers.
However, a spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told CNBC that Democrats would not negotiate through the press and look forward to serious talks at a meeting next week.
(Photo: Michael Vadon)
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