The right-leaning Wall Street Journal editorial board, which has long advocated for looser immigration laws, is mocking Breitbart after President Trump this week negotiated with congressional Democratic leaders on a potential deal to extend protections for some young illegal immigrants known as “Dreamers.”
In an editorial published Thursday night, the Journal applauded Trump’s apparent intention to work with Democrats on the issue, which involves the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy affecting illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, and said it should have been seen as an inevitable development.
“As for the shouts of ‘betrayal’ from Mr. Trump’s restrictionist fans, we hope someone has confiscated the sharp objects at the Breitbart townhouse,” the paper said. “But what did they expect? Their desire to deport the Dreamers to countries they left as children is a minority view in the United States, the Republican Party and even among conservatives. Mr. Trump adopted his anti-immigration positions during the campaign to win the GOP primary, not because they are lifelong beliefs. Mr. Trump’s core political conviction is winning, and the Dreamer deal will be popular.”
Before initiating negotiations with Democrats, Trump rescinded former President Barack Obama’s directive to temporarily shield DACA recipients from deportations and he instructed Congress to pass legislation to address the matter.
Trump said Thursday that he and Democratic leaders are working toward some form of a deal that would include protection for DACA recipients and an increase in funding for border security resources.
Breitbart, run by former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, is generally supportive of Trump’s agenda. But after news broke of his dealing with Democrats, its homepage featured negative stories slamming the negotiations as a broken campaign promise on immigration. The site dubbed the president “Amnesty Don.”
