Trump to extend DACA protections if Congress doesn’t act: report

President Trump will reportedly extend protections for young immigrants beyond the six-month deadline if Congress does not act to legalize the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said outside a town hall event in Tulsa that Trump told him personally that he would extend the March 5 deadline, according to The Washington Post.

“The president’s comment to me was that, ‘We put a six-month deadline out there. Let’s work it out. If we can’t get it worked out in six months, we’ll give it some more time, but we’ve got to get this worked out legislatively,’” Lankford said.

When Trump rescinded President Obama’s landmark immigration protections in September, he set a six-month deadline for Congress to legalize the protections for so-called “Dreamers,” young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.

{mosads}Lankford’s comments confirm what many speculated after the president tweeted Sept. 5 that he would “revisit the issue” if Congress doesn’t act.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have made it clear that they support protections and a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, but the road to legislation is murky. Some Democrats are pushing for a “clean” DACA bill, while Republicans and Trump want to pass legislation that includes protection against other kinds of immigration, including the president’s border wall with Mexico.

On Wednesday, the president said “it would be wonderful to solve the DACA problem,” but reiterated that the border wall would have to be a part of any solution, a move many Democrats have said they would not support.