The Hill
By Jordan Fabian and Megan R. Wilson
October 02, 2017
President Trump will have dinner Monday night with key Republican lawmakers, where they plan to discuss a fix for young immigrants living illegally in the U.S.
Two Republican lobbyists familiar with the dinner said the men will discuss the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which Trump terminated last month. A White House official would not comment on the dinner agenda.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, plan on attending the dinner according to a White House official.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the Judiciary panel and a member of the House GOP’s DACA task force, is also expected to dine with the president.
Trump and lawmakers are scrambling to come up with a solution for the hundreds of thousands of young immigrants covered by DACA, the Obama-era program that offered them deportation reprieves and work permits. The group is sometimes referred to as Dreamers, after an earlier proposal to give them protected status.
The program will begin to sunset in March 2018, and Trump has called on Congress to use that time to come up with legislation to help the program’s beneficiaries.
“Congress, get ready to do your job – DACA!,” the president tweeted on the day Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the program’s termination.
The dinner comes weeks after Trump rankled Republicans by announcing he’s pursuing a deal with Democratic leaders to protect DACA recipients.
The outline of the deal included a DACA fix combined with additional border security measures. One GOP lobbyist told The Hill that the meeting will involve finding a solution that also includes finding a way to include increased border security, a major priority for Republicans.
Sens. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) will also be at the dinner with Trump Monday night. The two senators drafted a bill that would overhaul the visa system and reduce the number of immigrants admitted to the country.
They have pushed for their legislation to be a part of a DACA deal.
McCarthy told Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) last week that GOP leaders are working to help DACA recipients far before the deadline next year, the Democratic leader said.
DACA shields nearly 800,000 people from deportation, and grants many the ability to go to college and obtain work permits. DACA recipients have until Oct. 5 to renew their status.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will recognize current DACA recipients until their two-year authorization expires, so the program will end on a rolling basis. The last authorization expires in 2020.
Trump’s decision to end the program has been overwhelmingly opposed by the business community, including industry titans like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers.
Three-hundred companies signed a letter led by the tech industry defending the program.
“Our immigration system is broken — of this there is little debate. Previous Congresses and administrations have missed many opportunities to fix the problem, and they have failed by inaction,” Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, wrote in a blog post last month. “And that is exactly why DACA exists in the first place.”
Timmons, like many other executives, called on Congress to find a solution and pass “real reform.”
But Trump’s core supporters cheered the move, calling it a fulfillment of his campaign trail promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
Many of his supporters were upset with his decision to pursue a legislative fix for DACA recipients.
Mike Lillis contributed.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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