White House Dodges Questions On Whether Trump Will End DACA

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pauses to listen to a reporters question during the daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday refused to confirm reports that President Donald planned to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has protected about 800,000 young undocumented people from deportation.

On Thursday, Fox News cited an unnamed senior administration official in a report that Trump planned on ending DACA “as early as Friday.” Trump, Fox News reported, was expected to allow people currently protected by DACA to stay in the United States until their work authorizations expired. McClatchy, citing “multiple people familiar with the policy negotiation,” referred to a similar timeline and plan.

“No offense to your colleague from Fox News,” Sanders told the New York Times’ Glenn Thrush at a press briefing Thursday. “But I think I’m a little bit better informed than they are in terms of when the White House has made a decision, and as I just said a moment ago, it has not been finalized and when it is, we will certainly let you know.”

That wasn’t a specific denial of the reports. Sanders added separately: “This is under review, there are a lot of components that need to be looked at, and once a decision is made, we will certainly let you guys know.”

Trump is facing pressure from 10 attorneys general in Republican-led states to rescind the program by Sept. 5, or else face a lawsuit. He promised to rescind DACA on the campaign trail, calling it an “illegal executive amnesty” in August 2016.

Since taking office, though, he has said DACA recipients “shouldn’t be very worried,” and that he would “show great heart,” regarding the program.

“DACA is a very, very difficult subject for me, I will tell you,” he said in February. “To me it’s one of the most difficult subjects I have, because you have these incredible kids, in many cases. Not in all cases; in some of the cases they’re having DACA and they’re gang members and drug dealers, too. But you have some absolutely incredible kids. I would say mostly.”

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