White House denies Pelosi-Schumer statement on Dreamer deal with Trump

The White House said Wednesday that reports President Donald Trump had reached a deal with Democratic leaders to pass legislation to protect the DACA recipients were exaggerated.

What did the White House say?

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted Wednesday night in an attempt to clarify what deal was made.

"While DACA and border security were both discussed, excluding the wall was certainly not agreed to," it read.

What did Democrats say about the deal?

Wednesday evening House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) released a joint statement saying that a deal was reached to pass DACA legislation, without any provision to erect Trump's promised border wall.

“We had a very productive meeting at the White House with the president," the statement read.

"The discussion focused on DACA," it continued. "We agreed to enshrine the protections of DACA into law quickly, and to work out a package of border security, excluding the wall, that’s acceptable to both sides.”

What had Trump said before about DACA?

Trump had constantly said on the campaign trail that he would rescind the DACA order, and at some moments he even promised to do so on his first day in the Oval Office. After assuming office, however, he put out mixed statements until eventually deciding to end the executive memo, but only after giving Congress six months to pass legislation securing amnesty for the "DREAMers."

Will Republicans support a DACA act deal?

In order to the protect the DACA recipients, Democrats would have to be joined by some Republicans, and some have signaled support for such legislation. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has been vocal in his support of this legislation. Others, like Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) will vehemently oppose any amnesty by arguing that many illegal aliens cause crime when they come to the U.S.

Did the Democrat leaders respond?

Schumer's communication director tweeted in response to the denial by Huckabee Sanders, saying, "The President made clear he would continue pushing the wall, just not as part of this agreement."