President Donald Trump knows Congress will not approve the construction of a southern border wall and instead wants to see border security drastically increased in exchange for a DACA deal, a GOP senator said Thursday.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., was one of several Republican lawmakers who met with Trump at the White House to talk immigration. During the meeting, Lankford said Trump made it clear that he wants the border to be tighter in the form of more patrols, more surveillance, and, in some areas, more fencing.
"People want to paint that it's some 2,000-mile long, 30-foot-high wall of concrete. That's not what he means and not what he tries to say," said Lankford, according to The Hill.
"There's going to be border fencing in some areas, there's going to be vehicular barricades, there's going to be technology, there's going to be greater manpower in some areas."
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows people who came to the United States illegally as children to stay under certain conditions, ends on March 6. In September, Trump gave Congress six months to come up with a solution to protect the roughly 800,000 people who are benefitting from the program before it is phased out.
It was reported that Trump originally wanted a border wall to be part of the DACA deal, but that no longer appears to be the case.
During Thursday's White House meeting, the Hill reported Trump as asking the GOP lawmakers in attendance to erase policies on chain migration and the visa lottery program as part of the DACA deal they must strike with Democrats.
Trump told reporters before the meeting that he wants to see Border Patrol agents have more tools at their disposal to keep illegal aliens out, including a wall.
"Any legislation on DACA must secure the border with a wall, it must give our immigration officers the resources they need to stop illegal immigration, and also to stop these overstays," Trump said.
It was not clear whether Trump was referring to a 2,000-mile wall or small sections, as Lankford spoke about.
Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn, meanwhile, told the Hill Trump will likely set up a bipartisan meeting for next week to help the immigration bill process along.
"It's pretty clear to me that the president wants to get this addressed and is willing to call a meeting early next week, a bipartisan meeting to work through the differences," Cornyn said.