Is Trump Granting US Citizenship To Some 'Dreamers'? President Open To Multiyear Path For The Future

For the first time and explicitly, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, said during a White House briefing that he was open to a multiyear path to citizenship for some recipients of the DACA program, the so-called "Dreamers." According to Trump, he has not ruled out the possibility of granting citizenship to the undocumented immigrant youth who came to the United States as children, and are covered by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that he terminated in the fall of 2017.

If Trump proceeds with the plan, some "Dreamers" would then be eligible to pursue full citizenship over 10 to 12 years. "We’re going to morph into it," Trump said of citizenship. "It’s going to happen — over a period of 10 to 12 years. If somebody's done a great job and worked hard, it keeps the incentive to do a great job. ... I think it's a nice thing to have the incentive, after a period of years, of being able to become a citizen." After Trump emphasized his support of a citizenship path, White House crew members said the president would release a complete "framework" on Monday, January 29.

The officials said Trump's proposal for citizenship would be limited only to the 690,000 who were enrolled in DACA when he terminated the program, the rest who were eligible for DACA never applied fearing to be registered with the government and costs associated with applying, according to The Washington Post.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the new White House immigration deal for some "Dreamers" actually “represents a compromise that members of both parties can support. We encourage the Senate to bring it to the floor.”

In September 2017, Trump gave a deadline to the Congress to address the situation and come up with an alternative. “Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do). If they can't, I will revisit this issue!” he tweeted.

Trump also tweeted he's looking forward to work with the Congress "to address immigration reform in a way that puts hardworking citizens of our country 1st." If Democrats and some Republicans accomplish to extend legal protections to a far larger group of dreamers, then up to 1.7 million under the latest version of the DREAM Act, could be benefited.

“President Trump’s support for a pathway to citizenship will help us get strong border security measures as we work to modernize a broken immigration system," Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement. "With this strong statement by President Trump, I have never felt better about our chances of finding a solution on immigration."

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said "it must be done responsibly, guaranteeing a secure & lawful border & ending chain migration, to mitigate the negative side effects of codifying DACA."

Since the very first day, politicians have been divided on immigration issues related to this American immigration policy, but under the presidency of Donald Trump, DACA has been under scrutiny. DACA not only gives young undocumented immigrants protection from deportation, also a work permit is part of the program that expires after two years, and is subject to renewal.

After the Trump administration formally announced the end of DACA, DREAMers all around the United States are in fear, worried about what the future holds.