President Trump said Wednesday he had “no second thoughts” about his decision to end protections against deportations for young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.
Trump said during a meeting in the Oval Office with congressional leaders that he was hopeful that Congress would pass immigration reform within the six-month deadline he gave them — even though they’ve tried but failed repeatedly for 16 years.
“I certainly hope they do,” he said.
Trump tweeted Tuesday night that if Congress didn’t “legalize DACA,” he would “revisit this issue!”
Earlier Tuesday, administration spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders repeatedly said that if the GOP-controlled Congress failed to act they should “get out of the way.”
“That’s their job, and if they can’t do it, then they need to get out of the way and let somebody else who can take on a heavy lift and get things accomplished,” she said.
“Again, if they can’t, then they should get out of the way and let somebody else take their job that can actually get something done.”
But GOP Congressional leaders said they weren’t about to rush the legislation despite the veiled threats from the White House.
House Speaker Paul Ryan told his Republicans caucus that they would address the issue of immigration through the regular legislative process, according to Rep. Dennis Ross of Florida.
The leaders “were not going to jam anybody, we’re going to go through the process,” Ross quoted Ryan as saying during their Wednesday meeting.
It’s unclear if a divided GOP could come together and work with Democrats to craft and pass the legislation.
Ryan himself pulled an about face Wednesday, saying that the president was right to kill the DACA program, five days after saying that Trump shouldn’t do it.