WH: No deal yet on DACA

by Jordan Fabian - 01/11/18 3:04 PM ET

The White House on Thursday poured cold water on talk of an emerging deal in the Senate to protect young immigrants benefitting from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

“There has not been a deal reached yet, however, we still think we can get there,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters during a briefing Thursday afternoon.

Sanders was responding to comments from Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who said a bipartisan group of senators is getting closer to a deal to shield DACA recipients from deportation in exchange for border-security measures. {mosads}

“We’ve outlined what we think a deal has to look like on our end,” Sanders said. She declined to elaborate on potential concerns with the proposal.

Lawmakers are scrambling to reach a deal on spending and immigration by Jan. 19, when government funding runs out and a government shutdown would occur. Democrats want a fix to protect DACA recipients, which Trump says he won’t agree to unless the government funding bill also budgets for increased border security and his proposed border wall with Mexico.

Trump last year scrapped the Obama-era DACA program, which allows certain young immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children to live and work without fear of deportation.

The program expires on March 5.

Tags Border wall DACA deferred action for childhood arrivals Immigration reform Jeff Flake White House press briefing