The White House has suggested that any deal on young undocumented migrants depends on funds for the planned Mexican border wall and a clampdown on illegal immigration, sparking outrage from Democrats.
A list of priorities handed to Congress on Sunday night includes calls for more agents, judges and prosecutors – along with other restrictions and measures putting pressure on cities and employers.
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Last month President Trump ended DACA – the Obama-era programme that protected hundreds of thousands of so-called “Dreamers”, young people who were brought illegally to the US as children.
He pledged to go easy on them, giving Congress six months to come up with legislation.
But if enacted, his priorities – which emphasise enforcement – could result in Dreamers’ parents being deported.
The White House says the measures are essential to mitigate the effect of granting legal status to the young migrants, most of whom come from Mexico and other Latin American countries.
Democratic leaders in Congress, who met the president in September, have accused him of reneging on a pledge not to include the wall in the negotiations over the Dreamers’ future.
Democrats and moderate Republicans support DACA, as do most Americans according to one survey.
But Donald Trump campaigned to get tough on immigration, and his apparently more flexible stance alarmed some of his more right-wing supporters.
