dreamers

Donald Trump Seek $25 Billion for Border Wall to Offer Dreamer Citizenship

dreamers

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday previewed his outline for an immigration bill that he will promote next week, saying he wants $25 billion to build a border wall and is open to granting citizenship to “Dreamer” immigrants brought to the United States as children.

President Donald Trump on Monday will propose a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children — a key concession to Democrats that he hopes will win their support for a massive border wall with Mexico.

President Trump said Wednesday he wants to give young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children a path to citizenship.“We’re going to morph into it … It’s going to happen, at some point in the future, over a period of 10 to 12 years,” Trump told reporters.

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Trump said he was optimistic he could come to an agreement with both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress that would appeal to hardliners seeking tougher rules for immigrants while also preventing the roughly 700,000“Dreamers” from being deported.

“Tell them not to be concerned, ok? Tell them not to worry. We’re going to solve the problem. It’s up to the Democrats, but they (the Dreamers) should not be concerned,” Trump told reporters during an impromptu question-and-answer session at the White House.

Trump said he wanted to offer the Dreamers, protected from deportation by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an “incentive” of citizenship perhaps in 10 to 12 years. He added that addressing the status of their parents, who entered the United States illegally, was “tricky.”

In addition to the citizenship path that would take up to 12 years, the White House framework includes a $25 billion “trust fund” for a border wall and additional security upgrades on the southwestern and northern U.S. borders. And the president is proposing terminating the ability of U.S. citizens to petition for permanent legal residency “green cards” for parents and siblings, limiting the family visas to spouses and minor children.

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