White House Legislative Director Marc Short said Thursday that President Donald Trump would support a path to citizenship for Dreamers "if Democrats will allow us to secure the border."
"He is willing to make that transaction," Short told Wolf Blitzer on CNN.
Congress allowed a March deadline to pass without resolving the fate for more than 780,000 young immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
In the debate over the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill Trump threatened to veto the bill because it lacked DACA provisions — but he eventually signed it under the guise of "national security."
Last month, a federal appeals court blocked Trump's move to end the program, which was announced last year by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Short told Blitzer that Democrats were no longer working with the administration or congressional Republicans on DACA because "they feel that the courts are protecting them."
"What's changed in the last six months, Wolf, unfortunately, is that the courts ruled in what Democrats view in their view saying that the population is protected for now — and Democrats have not come to the table and tried for a deal here.
"We need 60 votes in the United States Senate," he added. "Without cooperation from Democrats, it's difficult for us to get there.
"In the omnibus debate, we put on the table a deal they offered and wanted before — and now walking away from the deal because they feel that the courts are protecting them."
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