Trump now says he’s open to immigration reform

Washington • President Donald Trump surprised congressional leaders when he suddenly suggested he was open to broad immigration reform. But while there is appetite on Capitol Hill for legislation, there is also the president's hard-line rhetoric over the past two years could make a compromise bill much harder.

Trump signaled a potential shift in a private meeting Tuesday with news anchors. The president told them he was open to legislation that would give legal status to some people living in the U.S. illegally and provide a pathway to citizenship to those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Trump did say in his prime-time address before Congress that "real and positive immigration reform is possible." But he also pledged to target people living in the U.S. illegally who "threaten our communities" and prey on "innocent citizens," words similar to his campaign speeches.

His mixed message was a prime topic Wednesday.

"I hope that it opens the door for comprehensive immigration reform, which we obviously feel is vital," said Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who spearheaded a 2013 immigration bill, which ultimately failed after passing the Senate.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said he was encouraged by Trump's remarks. He said the time was ripe for action, despite Trump's past rhetoric denouncing "illegal amnesty."

"Only Nixon could go to China. I think there are parallels there," said Flake. That was a reference to President Richard Nixon's 1972 meeting with Mao Zedong, now a political metaphor for a leader taking an action that his supporters would typically condemn if taken by someone from another party.

Flakes suggested that Trump could "come out and say, 'All right, we've got to solve this. We're not going to deport 11 million people. There are people out there afraid. ... Why don't we get something we can agree on? Now's the time."

But White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday that any legislation would have to be on Trump's terms.

"He recognizes that a solution … has eluded our nation for a long time. And it's a big problem. And if he can get it consistent with his principles, he will," Spicer said.

Trump campaigned as an immigration hard-liner, vowing to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and step up deportations.

Since taking office, some of his policy moves have hewed closely to those promises, including new guidance from the Department of Homeland Security that would subject any immigrants in the country illegally to deportation if they are charged or convicted of any offense or even suspected of a crime.

But the president also has suggested he is open to finding a solution for those who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Although he railed against President Barack Obama's executive actions to protect those immigrants from deportation during the campaign, Trump has not rolled back Obama's safeguards.

Trump did say during the campaign that he was open to "softening" his position.

But he ultimately landed where he started, declaring in September that under his presidency there would be "no legal status or becoming a citizen of the United States by illegally entering our country."

"People will know that you can't just smuggle in, hunker down and wait to be legalized," he said then. "Those days are over."