After taking a hardline stance on immigration policy during the campaign, President Trump on Tuesday called for “compromise on both sides” on the issue of immigration.
“The time is right for an immigration bill as long as there is compromise on both sides,” Trump told reporters at the White House hours before his first speech to a joint session of Congress.
Democrats have called for a continuation of actions former President Barack Obama took to protect some of the estimated 11 million people in the U.S. illegally. Obama had implemented Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and a similar program for their adults, which allows some to have legal presence in the country for two years at a time.
TV anchors who spoke with Trump on Tuesday afternoon reported he may be open to a bipartisan approach to immigration and could reveal his new thinking during his televised speech from the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday night.
“The president has been very clear in his process that the immigration system is broken and needs massive reform, and he’s made clear that he’s open to having conversations about that moving forward,” deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Tuesday. “Right now, his primary focus, as he has made over and over again is border control and security at the border and deporting criminals from our country, and keeping our country safe, and those priorities have not changed.”
The president previewed his immigration-related pitch to a group of network anchors during a private lunch on Tuesday. Two of the network’s anchors, including Bret Baier, attended the lunch.
Trump shift: official says WH open to legal status for undoc immigrants who haven’t committed serious crimes, per @wolfblitzer @jaketapper
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 28, 2017
Trump may even be open to granting legal status to undocumented immigrants with no criminal history, CNN reported after the lunch with network anchors.
The move would mark a departure from Trump’s campaign rhetoric, which centered on a tougher approach to immigration than his predecessor.
Trump came down heavily on the side of strengthening immigration restrictions during his campaign, and he courted conservatives who had opposed a previously unsuccessful attempt at immigration compromise waged by lawmakers known as the “Gang of Eight.”
The White House is expected to release a new version of an executive order that had temporarily suspended immigration from seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa until security protocols could be enhanced. Many Democrats, including some on the right, said the action went after Muslim-majority countries.
