Trump: Border wall must be part of DACA deal

President Trump said Tuesday that he made clear during immigration negotiations with lawmakers that the country needs “the security of the Wall” on the U.S.-Mexico border and it “must be part of any” deal for certain young immigrants.

“As I made very clear today, our country needs the security of the Wall on the Southern Border, which must be part of any DACA approval,” Trump tweeted, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

As I made very clear today, our country needs the security of the Wall on the Southern Border, which must be part of any DACA approval.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018

Trump has suggested a wall must be part of a deal that would include a legislative fix for the hundreds of thousands of immigrants affected by the Obama-era program.

The president announced in September that he would rescind the program, which allows certain immigrants who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children to stay and work without fear of deportation.

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Trump’s tweet came hours after he and congressional negotiators outlined the parameters of a potential deal during a meeting at the White House. As part of the outline, Trump and lawmakers agreed such a deal should protect so-called Dreamers from deportation, tighten security along the border, change how family relationships are weighted when granting legal status and reform the diversity visa lottery program.

Two GOP senators came out of a bipartisan meeting saying the wall will likely be more like a fence.

“He’s made it clear that he’s not talking about a monolithic structure,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters. “He made the point that this could well be what other people cal a fence. I think he made the point that Border Patrol needs to be able to see through it.” 

Meanwhile, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said on MSNBC that the president gave a more detailed explanation of the border structure than before.

“He said a number of times, I think both when the cameras were there and afterwards, we’re not talking about a 2,000-mile wall. He said there are rivers and mountains that preclude a wall from being built, and you just don’t need it,” Flake said. 

“Plus, the wall isn’t so much a wall as it is a fence, and that’s certainly the case to the extent that we have walls currently on our southern border we’ve been removing those and putting fences in their place because it’s much more effective,” he added.

Building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border has been a signature promise of Trump since he launched his presidential campaign in 2015. 

In November 2016, Trump appeared to soften his stance on what exactly would qualify as “the wall,” saying that there “could be” some fencing in areas, but that a wall would be more appropriate in others.

Trump is reportedly expected to see prototypes for the border wall following his State of the Union address later this month.