Shortly after House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) dined with President Trump on Wednesday night, the Democratic leaders released a statement saying the group had "agreed to enshrine the protections of DACA into law quickly." Pelosi and Schumer said the deal would exchange amnesty for border security measures "excluding the wall."
Trump had announced earlier this month he was ending the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, which grants work authorization to immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, after first allowing a six-month reprieve so Congress could attempt to solve the issue with legislation. Several of his biggest supporters were publicly displeased with the idea that Trump had reportedly agreed to protect these illegal immigrants after all — especially if it came at the expense of the ever-touted border wall.
Among them were prominent Iowa Republicans Rep. Steve King and Sen. Chuck Grassley. King in particular has been an ardent defender of Trump's, but on Wednesday lamented that "no promise" the president makes "is credible":
Grassley, on the other hand, accused the president of having "undercut" the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Grassley chairs:
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that Trump had "certainly not agreed" to ditch the border wall, and Trump himself tweeted Thursday that the wall — now taking the form of "new renovation of old and existing fences" — would "continue to be built."
Meanwhile, other Republicans were not so moved by the Trump-supporting lawmakers' hurt feelings. Kimberly Alters