DACA protections up for discussion as Biden huddles with Democratic lawmakers

President Biden will meet with 11 congressional Democrats at the White House on Thursday to discuss plans — potentially to be included in the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation — for a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, people originally promised such under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

The commander-in-chief will meet with the group — which includes Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman and Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ), two of the leaders on the Senate side for immigration reform — to discuss next steps, possibly involving including such a measure in Democrats’ partisan budget reconciliation. Aside from Durbin and Menendez, Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) are also expected from the Senate side.