Top Democratic congressional leaders announced they had reached an agreement with President Trump Wednesday evening on an immigration reform package that will protect the nearly 800,000 young DACA immigrants living in the United States under an Obama-era program.
That immigration reform package also included border security but excluded Trump’s border wall.
Videos by VICE
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California issued a joint statement saying they had “agreed to enshrine the protections of DACA into law quickly, and to work out a package of border security, excluding the wall, that’s acceptable to both sides.”
The White House also issued a statement, calling the meeting “a positive step toward the president’s strong commitment to bipartisan solutions for the issues most important to all Americans.”
But in direct contradiction to the statement, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted later in the evening that agreements had not, in fact, excluded the border wall.
President Trump repealed the DACA program last week, removing protections for the so-called Dreamers, which unleashed nationwide demonstrations and caused more than 15 states to sue his administration.
The deal would be the second time in a week that the president has reached across the aisle to deal directly with top congressional Democrats — to the chagrin of some members of his own party. Last Wednesday, Trump broke with the Republican Party and sided with Schumer on a three-month extension on the debt ceiling.
Republicans for the most part have so far been silent on the announcement, which occurred in the late hours, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas tweeted, “Some of us are not giving up,” linking to his comments on the border wall on Fox Business. However, it appeared he tweeted during the dinner at the White House and before the joint statement was released.
