Hours after US President Donald Trump’s interview with the Telemundo News channel, the White House came out with a statement on Friday saying that President Donald Trump was working on an executive order to establish a merit-based immigration system.
Trump, in the interview had said that he was working on an executive order on immigration that will include a “road to citizenship” for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme.
Responding to a question in the interview, President Trump said his action on the DACA is going to be part of a much bigger bill on immigration.
“It’s going to be a very big bill, a very good bill, and a merit-based bill and it will include DACA, and I think people are going to be very happy,” he said.
“One of the aspects of the bill is going to be DACA. We’re going to have a road to citizenship,” Donald Trump said, drawing sharp criticism from quarters in his camp. Senator Ted Cruz described the move as a mistake.
“As the President announced today, he is working on an executive order to establish a merit-based immigration system to further protect US workers,” the White House said in a statement.