Trump Indicates He’s Open To Path To Citizenship For DACA Recipients

U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a working session with mayors in the East Room of the White House January 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. According to U.S. Conference of Mayors President Mitch Landrieu, representatives from the conference were scheduled to meet with Trump but cancelled due to the administration's 'decision to threaten mayors and demonize immigrants.' The conference, a non-partisan organization of cities with a population of 30,000 or larger, is holding its annual meeting this week in Washington. — WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 24: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to a group of mayors in the East Room of the White House January 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. According to U.S. Conference of Mayors President Mitch Lan... WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 24: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to a group of mayors in the East Room of the White House January 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. According to U.S. Conference of Mayors President Mitch Landrieu, representatives from the conference were scheduled to meet with Trump but several cancelled due to the administration's 'decision to threaten mayors and demonize immigrants.' The conference, a non-partisan organization of cities with a population of 30,000 or larger, is holding its annual meeting this week in Washington. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS

January 25, 2018 8:10 a.m.

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In yet another change of opinion by the President, Donald Trump suggested to reporters Wednesday evening that he would be open to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recipients to obtain a path to citizenship.

“We’re going to morph into it. It’s going to happen at some point in the future,” Trump told reporters at the White House, according to CNN. “If they do a great job, I think it’s a nice thing to have the incentive of, after a period of years, being able to become a citizen.”

Trump made the comments in an impromptu gaggle with reporters at the White House who were speaking with a senior administration official about the Trump administration’s proposal for restoring DACA, per Roll Call.

It’s not clear exactly what Trump meant when he said he’d like to “morph into it,” and the President and his staff could easily pivot away from Trump’s Wednesday evening comments as negotiations continue. The President recently rejected a proposal from a bipartisan group of senators that included a path to citizenship for DACA recipients.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of the authors of the bipartisan plan rejected by Trump, said Wednesday night that he was encouraged by Trump’s comments.

President Trump’s support for a pathway to citizenship will help us get strong border security measures as we work to modernize a broken immigration system.

With this strong statement I have never felt better about our chances of finding a solution on immigration.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 24, 2018

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Caitlin Mac Neal (@caitlinmacneal) is TPM's special projects editor, based in Washington, D.C. She first came to TPM as a newswriter, and has written for HuffPost, the Sunlight Foundation and Slate.

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