Trump rules out citizenship and amnesty, but says he wants to let DREAMers 'stay here'

President Trump said Thursday that he doesn't want to grant "amnesty" or "citizenship" to the recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, but he does want to let them "stay." "We're not looking at citizenship. We're not looking at amnesty. We're looking at allowing people to stay here," Trump said. He didn't elaborate on how his approach would differ from amnesty.
Though just last week Trump announced he was rescinding the program that protected immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, this week he said his administration is "talking about taking care of people, people that were brought here, people that have done a good job and were not brought here of their own volition."
Despite Republicans' tweets indicating outrage and confusion over Trump's apparent deal over dinner with the Democrats to "enshrine the protections of DACA into law quickly," Trump swore Thursday he was "doing it in conjunction with the Republicans." "We have a very, very good relationship with a lot of people," he said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Catch a clip of Trump's comments to reporters below. Becca Stanek
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Laurence Leamer's 6 favorite books that took courage to write
Feature The author recommends works by George Orwell, Truman Capote and more
-
Today's political cartoons - May 7, 2025
Cartoons Wednesday's cartoons - film industry tariffs, self-deportation, and more
-
Weer at Soho Theatre Walthamstow: a 'silly, seductive, slapstick joy'
The Week Recommends Natalie Palamides' 'tear-inducingly funny' one-woman show opens London's newest venue
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
-
Trump blames Biden for tariffs-linked contraction
speed read The US economy shrank 0.3% in the first three months of 2025, the Commerce Department reported
-
Trump says he could bring back Ábrego García but won't
Speed Read At a rally to mark his 100th day in office, the president doubled down on his unpopular immigration and economic policies
-
Canada's Liberals, Carney win national election
Speed Read The party of Prime Minister Mark Carney beat Conservative Pierre Poilievre thanks in part to Trump's trade war