Trump to DACA beneficiaries: You don't have to worry for 6 months

US President Donald Trump told young undocumented migrants protected from deportation under the DACA program that they need not worry about their immigration status for the next six months, the period the president gave Congress to find an alternative to the immigration plan.

"For all of those (DACA) that are concerned about your status during the 6 month period, you have nothing to worry about - No action!" said Trump on Twitter on Thursday.

The President thus implied that his government will take no action against the beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program during the six-month grace period he established earlier this week for Congress to find a legislative alternative to the program implemented by former President Barack Obama by executive order in 2012, Efe news reported.

Trump's tweet came shortly after a telephone conversation he held with Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in which she expressly asked him to promise the DACA beneficiaries that they will not be deported during the six-month period prior to March 5, 2018.

A Democratic aide present at a closed-door meeting in which Pelosi told several lawmakers from her party about the details of her conversation with Trump and her request that he reassure DREAMers, requesting anonymity, revealed the contents of that discussion.

According to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, Trump spoke Thursday with Pelosi but also with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate leaders -- Republican Mitch McConnell and Democrat Chuck Schumer -- in keeping with his commitment to work with "all parties".

Thanks to DACA, some 800,000 young undocumented migrants brought to this country as young children have been able to halt their deportation proceedings, obtain temporary work permits and, in some states, receive driver's licenses.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced the elimination of DACA, but the suspension of the program will not go into effect until March 5, 2018, during which time Congress, the only institution with the power to change the US immigration system, must find a solution to regularize the status of the DREAMers.

--IANS

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