--- title: Democrats Criticize Donald Trump's Dreamers Offer description: Democrats say Donald Trump's demands on a deal to protect undocumented people brought to the U.S. as children is full of dealbreakers. canonical: https://time.com/4974506/donald-trump-dreamer-daca-immigration/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-09T15:55:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:56:03.481Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump's Immigration Wishlist Could Kill a Deal to Help the Dreamers og:description: "It is immoral for the President to use the lives of these young people as bargaining chips" og:url: https://time.com/4974506/donald-trump-dreamer-daca-immigration/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e117e8942159513/6988e12497cdffc86f6b2c2f/trump-demands-for-daca.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5022 og:image:height: 2825 og:image:alt: trump-demands-for-daca og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump's Immigration Wishlist Could Kill a Deal to Help the Dreamers twitter:description: "It is immoral for the President to use the lives of these young people as bargaining chips" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e117e8942159513/6988e12497cdffc86f6b2c2f/trump-demands-for-daca.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump's Immigration Wishlist Could Kill a Deal to Help the Dreamers > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=64474192-67f9-414d-ab52-6133815404a7&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Here's What President Trump Has Said About DACA in the Past [Watch (HLS stream): Here's What President Trump Has Said About DACA in the Past](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/28JWtZVy.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2017-09-05. The Trump Administration announced Tuesday it will phase out the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 9, 2017 3:55 PM UTC The Trump Administration announced Tuesday it will phase out the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 9, 2017 3:55 PM UTC Democratic lawmakers say the Trump Administration’s [list of demands](http://time.com/4974057/white-house-daca-immigration-border-wall/) on a deal to protect hundreds of thousands of undocumented people brought to the U.S. as children is full of dealbreakers. As part of a bill to allow so-called Dreamers to avoid deportation, the White House has asked for overhauling the green card system, cracking down on unaccompanied minors at the border and raising standards for those seeking asylum, among other things. “The Administration can’t be serious about compromise or helping the Dreamers if they begin with a list that is anathema to the Dreamers, to the immigrant community and to the vast majority of Americans,” read a [joint statement](https://www.democraticleader.gov/newsroom/10817/) from Democratic leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. The two met with Trump at the White House in late September and announced they’d reached an agreement on how to protect recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a Obama-era program that shielded around 700,000 immigrants from deportation. The Trump administration ended the program in September and gave Congress six months to come up with a legislative solution. But the wishlist released Sunday appears to have hurt that deal. The list includes a demand for the construction of a border wall with Mexico, which the Democratic leaders said was off-the-table when they met with the president. “If the President was serious about protecting the Dreamers, his staff has not made a good faith effort to do so,” the Schumer-Pelosi statement reads. Democratic Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, accused the White House of acting immorally and said the principles will jeopardize the legislative process. In the House, Grisham is leading an effort to force a vote on the Dream Act, which would allow immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to eventually become citizens. “It is immoral for the President to use the lives of these young people as bargaining chips in his quest to impose his cruel, anti-immigrant and un-American agenda on our nation,” Grisham said. Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, first vice chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, [suggested the Administration was being hypocritical](https://twitter.com/JoaquinCastrotx/status/917178364695384064/photo/1): while stressing the importance of strong families, he said, it is working to implement policies that would split immigrant youth from their parents. “Immigrants are humans,” he said. “We should craft policies that treat them as such.” Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, a fierce advocate for immigrants in the Congress, went even further, calling the president’s outline “an extension of the white supremacist agenda” in an interview with the [Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/10/08/rep-luis-gutierrez-trumps-immigration-proposals-an-extension-of-the-white-supremacist-agenda/?utm%5Fterm=.82a01d6f4d50). A Democratic aide familiar with the process told TIME on Monday that many of the principles outlined by the White House could face opposition from lawmakers both sides of the aisle. “This is basically going after the Dreamers parents,” the aide said. “You’re basically saying, alright, we’ll let the Dreamers stay but then we want the machine to deport all their family members.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I will immediately terminate President Obama's illegal executive order on immigration. Immediately. We will immediately terminate President Obama's Two illegal executive amnesties, in which he defied federal law and the Constitution to give amnity to approximately 5 million illegal immigrants. Five million. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] They shouldn't be very worried, they are here illegally. They shouldn't be very worried. I do have a big heart. We're going to take care of everybody. We're going to have a very strong border. We're gonna have a very solid border. Where you have great people that are here that have done a good job, they should be far less worried. We're gonna show great heart. DACA is a very, very difficult subject for me. I will tell you. To me, it's one of the most difficult subjects I have. But you have some absolutely incredible kids, I would say mostly. They were brought here in such a way. It's a very, very tough subject. We are going to deal with DACA with heart. I have to deal with a lot of politicians, don't forget. And I have to convince them that what I'm saying is right. It's a very difficult thing for me because I love these kids. I love kids. I have kids and grandkids. And I find it very, very hard doing what the law says exactly to do. Well, I have a great heart for the folks we're talking about. A great love for them. I have a love for these people, and hopefully now Congress will be able to help them, and do it Properly. And, really, we have no choice. We have to be able to do something, and I think it's going to work out very well. And, long- term, it's gonna be the right solution. 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