Congressional Republicans are waiting on President Trump to signal he is ready to negotiate a permanent solution for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.
Over the last decade, DACA has received varying degrees of support from Republican lawmakers. The program, created in 2012 to protect children who arrived in the country illegally prior to 2007 from deportation, now benefits around half a million people. During the last few months, there have been reports of DACA recipients without criminal records being detained by federal immigration officials despite the protection the program offers from immigration enforcement.
As Trump expands the reach of his mass deportation effort bolstered by record funding from Congress, immigration advocates and Democrats are raising concern that those on DACA may get caught in the crosshairs. Nearly 20 DACA recipients have been detained by immigration officials this year, according to the immigrant rights group Home is Here. But Republican lawmakers open to a solution are still deferring to the executive branch to broker a deal.
"I understand they are undocumented. I get it that they broke the law. I get it. But they're needed in the economy and someone gave them a job," said Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican from Florida who earlier this year introduced a bill that would provide a pathway to legal status for DACA recipients and others. "President Trump is a guy who gets things done and he can do it. And I am sure that he will come to the realization that this is what's good for America so we can make America greater."
Salazar's bill has received bipartisan support. But in interviews with Republican lawmakers who have previously supported a pathway to legal status for DACA recipients, nearly every lawmaker was clear: Trump needs to be the one to start talks.
Trump spent the bulk of the campaign vowing to launch the largest deportation effort in American history. While he has occasionally voiced support for finding a policy solution for certain groups, like farmworkers and other migrant laborers, there has been little effort to do so.
"The Trump Administration's top immigration enforcement priority is arresting and removing the dangerous violent, illegal criminal aliens that Joe Biden let flood across our Southern Border – of which there are many," said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson. "America is safer because of President Trump's immigration policies."
The DACA coalition has weakened in Congress
In 2017, 34 Republicans signed onto a letter urging then-House Speaker Paul Ryan to pass a permanent fix for DACA after Trump attempted to rescind the program, arguing that "reaching across the aisle to protect DACA recipients…is the right thing to do."
But strategists and immigration advocates said that the coalition of Republicans supporting DACA has shrunk over the years, as has the sense of urgency to find a solution after Trump's first attempt to repeal the program failed. Of those 34 Republicans who signed that letter, only eight are still voting members in the House.
"Allowing DACA to go forward became a political hot potato for the Republicans," said Muzaffar Chishti, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. "Congress always tries to kick the can down the street."
During his first network interview after winning the election, Trump said he would be open to negotiating a deal for DACA with Democrats. More recently, border czar Tom Homan told reporters at the White House that "no one is prioritizing DACA" for enforcement.
On the Hill, strategists said that this early in the administration's tenure, it may be a tall order to envision the cabinet's immigration enforcement leaders at the negotiating table with the Capitol Hill Democrats that would be needed to see a Congressional fix through.
"The Trump administration's position is that the only thing that is important on immigration is shutting the border. Almost everything [else] to this administration looks secondary," Chishti said. "As long as that doesn't change as a signal from President Trump, I don't think we're going to see much movement from Republicans in the House or the Senate."
House holds out hope on a bipartisan deal
Attempts to work across the aisle can be seen scattered throughout the chamber. The strongest effort is seemingly from Rep. Salazar.
"I have no doubt that we have started a national conversation as to what are we going to do with those people, including the DACA kids, who have roots in the country, who have children, who have been working, paying taxes and do not have a criminal record," Elvira Salazar told NPR in an interview. "That is the national conversation that we need to sit down on the table and specifically the GOP, my party and my president. We can definitely solve it."
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., said his support for DACA has not wavered. A member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, he was joined by fellow caucus members earlier this month to announce the group would provide a framework to hopefully kickstart negotiations on legislation that could include providing a solution to those who have been here for decades.
"I look in America and look [at] how immigrants built this country," he said. "So it's really a question for my colleagues as to whether they view America that way."
Separately, earlier this year the caucus sent a letter to the White House requesting a meeting to discuss a bipartisan compromise on immigration. For now, the goal is to come up with a general framework.
Still, there needs to be a strong directive from Trump in order to get the process moving, reiterated Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, an immigration advocacy organization.
"The political reality here is he could snap his fingers and tomorrow we'll have an intelligent conversation," Schulte said.
Still, any measure also needs bipartisan support in the Senate where enthusiasm is low.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., cosponsored the Dream Act in 2024, which would provide a pathway to legal status for people brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Speaking at the Capitol with NPR, Graham said he didn't see any of the current efforts making much headway while the priority stays on enforcement.
"If you start legalizing anybody now, that's just another magnet. So I want to turn off the magnets before we do anything," Graham said.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who introduced measures to provide some pathway to legalization for DACA, said he doesn't see movement before the new year.
"I hope the president goes back to what he said in his first term – he thinks there's room for legal immigration and more people immigrating legally here," Tillis said.
Sen. John Cornyn, who, in the past spoke strongly about the need to provide a pathway for DACA recipients, said he believes there are others ahead of DACA recipients in terms of the administration's immigration priorities.
"These young people who've now grown to be adults have found themselves in a very bad situation but don't see any prospects for immigration bills, including for them, any time soon," Cornyn said. "Thankfully, the border has settled down, but we still have a lot of people in the country who are under final orders of deportation shouldn't be here. And I think at some point, hopefully, we can have that conversation. But I don't think any time soon."
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