Pelosi: Trump says that he would sign the DREAM Act if it passed

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that President Trump agreed to sign into law a measure shielding young undocumented immigrants from deportation if it’s passed by lawmakers.

“We made it very clear in the course of the conversation that the priority was to pass the DREAM Act, that we wanted to do it in — obviously it has to be bipartisan,” Pelosi told reporters. “The president said he would — he supports that. He would sign it.”

Pelosi said she spoke to Trump on the phone Thursday morning, and during the call asked him to tweet a reassurance to young undocumented immigrants brought to the country illegally as children that they would not be deported in the next six months.

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Soon after, the president tweeted that DACA recipients have “nothing to worry about.”

The phone call came a day after Trump struck a deal with Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on a short-term deal to increase the debt ceiling, fund the government and provide Hurricane Harvey aid.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump administration would rescind the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which offered temporary reprieve from deportation to such immigrants, commonly called “Dreamers” after the proposed DREAM Act.

The administration said that the program would be phased out in six months — a delay intended to give Congress time to act on a legislative solution to the matter. 

Those whose DACA status expires within the next six months must reapply for the program’s protections by Oct. 5. But those recipients whose permits expire after the March deadline face possible deportation. 

Trump defended his decision to rescind the program on Tuesday, pressing lawmakers to act on legislation that would help DACA recipients. 

Tags DACA DREAM Act Jeff Sessions

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