For a moment, Democrats thought they had struck an unexpected deal with President Trump. Trump had previously insisted that any deal protecting "dreamers" — undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children — should also include border security and/or a border wall. But he now says that he would support a “clean” bill protecting dreamers, and then take up comprehensive immigration reform later.
“What about a clean DACA bill now, with a commitment that we go into a comprehensive immigration reform procedure?” asked Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Trump responded: “Yeah, I would like to do that. I think a lot of people would like to see that.”
The problem? Trump didn't know what “clean DACA bill” meant. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) quickly interjected and made clear that Trump believes a “clean” bill would include border security. Except that's not at all what a clean bill is; that's a compromise bill. A clean bill, by definition, only has one component to it.
By the end, Trump sought to clarify things. “I think a clean DACA bill to me is a DACA bill, but we take care of the 800,000 people,” he said. “But I think to me, a clean bill is a bill of DACA — we take care of them, and we also take care of security.”
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Even by the end of the meeting, Trump seemed to indicate that the border wall isn't necessarily a must-have for him — becoming just the latest iteration in a dizzying series of back-and-forths on what he wants in a DACA deal.
“I think my positions are going to be what the people in this room come up with,” Trump said. He added: “I'm not going to say, 'Oh, gee, I want this,' or 'I want that.' I will be signing it.”