Confusion follows Trump, Dems meeting on Dreamers — ANALYSIS

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says DACA, Democratic leaders in Congress say DREAM Act.

DACA stands for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that gave undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as minors temporary protection from deportation. It was imposed by executive action in 2012 under President Barack Obama and rescinded by the Trump administration on Sept. 5, but a six-month window was provided to give Congress time to address the issue.

The DREAM Act — or Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act — has been the name for proposed legislation to provide legal status and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought into the United States as children. The House passed a version of the bill in December 2010, but the measure failed to garner the needed votes in the Senate. Dreamers is the term used for DACA beneficiaries and those undocumented immigrants who would benefit from the DREAM Act.

When Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., dined with Trump at the White House on Wednesday night, the three discussed passing a measure to shield Dreamers from deportation.

According to the Democrats, the dinner yielded the beginning of an agreement. Pelosi issued a statement that said the three “agreed to a plan to work out an agreement to protect our nation’s DREAMers from deportation. We insisted that the bipartisan DREAM Act would be the basis for that protection and that we would review border security measures that didn’t include building a wall.”

To some Trump supporters, that looked like a negotiation in which the president gave Democrats their desired path to citizenship for Dreamers, while he gave away his signature campaign issue, the border wall. Not exactly the art of the deal.

Talking points

Despite their differences, Trump and Pelosi share one trait — neither is known for talking with precision.

At her Thursday morning briefing, Pelosi said that the three discussed “the DREAM Act, DACA, the president likes to call it DACA” — as if the two measures are practically interchangeable when they are not.

Trump, in particular, is known for making cryptic statements that his enthusiastic base is forced to interpret — and often reinterpret as the president and his aides issue clarifications. That’s what happened this week.

In response to the Pelosi statement, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted that “DACA and border security were discussed,” but “excluding the wall was certainly not agreed to.”

In the morning, Trump tweeted, “NO deal was made last night on DACA. Massive border security would have to be agreed to in exchange for consent. Would be subject to vote.” But by the end of the day, Trump was talking as if there was a preliminary deal. He told reporters, “DACA now, and the wall very soon.”

But a deal for what — the DREAM Act or a legislative version of DACA?

A Pelosi aide who spoke on background asserted that the DREAM Act was discussed during the dinner, that Trump heard a high-placed member of his team stipulate that the DREAM Act would create a path to citizenship for Dreamers and that the parties had agreed that the end product would include the DREAM Act and border security.

The Trump White House did not respond to a request for clarification. But Thursday, Trump told reporters, “We’re not looking at citizenship.”

No amnesty

At Friday’s briefing, Sanders said no deal on DACA had been finalized and the White House would release “what our specific priorities and principles are in that front over the next seven to 10 days.” Asked about the president’s view on a deal that confers citizenship, Sanders noted that DACA starts with the word “deferred” and added, “the whole definition says deferred so I think that takes away that permanent piece.”

Now, there is one area where Trump and Pelosi did agree. Both uttered the exact same sentence: “We’re not looking at amnesty.”

Pro-enforcement activists equate a path to citizenship with amnesty. Pelosi argued the term does not fit as Dreamers have to jump over hurdles to qualify for citizenship.

Trump, meanwhile, says he is talking about DACA, not the DREAM Act, so he appears to stand on stronger ground than Pelosi on his amnesty remark.

But will Trump stick with that position?

In August, Trump threatened to close down the government if that’s what it took to get the wall built over objections to “obstructionist Democrats.” In September, he wants to pass DACA so much, he is willing to defer funding for the wall. Stay tuned.

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.