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Donald Trump scraps Dreamers deal in Twitter outburst

Donald Trump (C) with First Lady Melania Trump (R) and daughter Tiffany Trump (L) arrives at an Easter service in Palm Beach, Florida.

Donald Trump (C) with First Lady Melania Trump (R) and daughter Tiffany Trump (L) arrives at an Easter service in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: Getty

US President Donald Trump says there will be no deal on legalising the status on young adult immigrants known as Dreamers, declaring on Twitter that the US-Mexico border is becoming more dangerous.

After tweeting a “Happy Easter” message on Sunday, Mr Trump followed with: “Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. ‘Caravans’ coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!”

DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is the program created in 2012 under Democratic former president Barack Obama that Mr Trump sought to rescind last (northern) autumn. Designed for individuals brought to the US as children by parents who were undocumented immigrants, the program shielded the individuals from deportation and gave them work permits.

Mr Trump had said he was open to brokering a deal with congressional Democrats who want to protect DACA in exchange for funding to build a US-Mexico border wall, a frequent campaign trail promise. He insisted during his run for the White House that Mexico would pay for the wall.

Although Mr Trump threatened a veto last month of an omnibus spending bill because it did not address the fate of Dreamers and did not fully fund his border wall, he did sign the bill.

Mr Trump is spending the Easter holiday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

“Mexico has got to help us at the border,” the President told reporters on his way into an Easter church service. “A lot of people are coming in because they want to take advantage of DACA. They had a great chance. The Democrats blew it.”

His DACA tweets came shortly after a report on the Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends program, one of Mr Trump’s favourites, that a “caravan” of mostly Honduran migrants was crossing Mexico and headed to the United States, “either illegally or by asking for asylum”.

More than 1000 would-be migrants have passed through Mexico’s southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca in recent days in a so-called “refugee caravan” organised by US-based immigrant advocacy group Pueblo Sin Fronteras.

A guest on Sunday’s Fox & Friends show, Brandon Judd, head of the National Border Patrol Council union, said illegal immigrants benefit from the “catch and release” program that Mr Trump referenced in his tweet. Under it, they can be freed while awaiting court hearings if detained in the US.

That situation has changed: last month, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of nine plaintiffs alleging that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were now detaining almost all adults who seek asylum at a port of entry.

Mr Trump said on Twitter on Sunday that Mexico is doing “very little, if not NOTHING” to stop the flow of people across the southern border. “They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!”

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