Trump insists DACA is 'much different than dreamers'

(Image credit: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

published 1 February 2018

In a speech to congressional Republicans on Thursday, President Trump urged his party members to bring immigration reform to a vote. He referred to a potential compromise on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children from deportation, saying that "we'll either have something that's fair and equitable and good and secure, or we'll have nothing at all."

He took issue, however, with the common practice of referring to DACA recipients as "DREAMers." "I've been hearing about DACA for so many years," Trump said. "Some people call it DREAMers. It's not DREAMers. Don't fall into that trap." Referring to a line from his State of the Union address Tuesday night, in which he said "Americans are dreamers too," he added: "We have dreamers in this country too. You can't forget our dreamers."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Explore More

Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox