Political groups backed by conservative mega-donors Charles and David Koch on Monday criticized President Trump’s recent comment that “DACA is dead,” saying the president needs to compromise on a deal that helps immigrants brought into the country illegally as children.
The three groups — Freedom Partners, Americans for Prosperity and The LIBRE Initiative — put out statements on Monday urging Trump to reach a permanent deal that trades funding for his border wall for a “permanent solution” for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients.
Trump struck down DACA — the Obama program that gives immigrants protection from deportation and allows them to work — last year and called on Congress to come up with a permanent solution.
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The group’s comments come one day after the president took to Twitter to say that Republicans should no longer make a DACA deal with Democrats.
The LIBRE Initiative President Daniel Garza said in a statement that Trump’s recent comments on DACA were “extremely disappointing and pointed out that both parties in Congress were willing to “provide funding for border security.”
Instead of giving up on DACA recipients, Garza said, “President Trump and Congress must double down and demonstrate a sense of urgency to make a deal that would provide certainty for Dreamers, and security for our nation.”
Freedom Partners Executive Vice President James Davis said the president needs to seize the deal that provides $25 billion for border security in exchange for a DACA fix, a deal the president has turned down in the past.
On Monday morning, the president tweeted that a DACA deal fell through because “Democrats didn’t care or act” and repeated his call for a border wall.
Previous compromises between congressional Democrats and Republicans that traded funding for his wall for a DACA deal were struck down by the White House.
The Koch brothers, who are major Republican donors, did not back Trump in the 2016 election.