WASHINGTON >> President-elect Donald Trump has said he would look for ways to spare immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children, known as Dreamers, from deportation.

But during Trump’s first presidency, he tried to wipe out the program protecting them. He failed only because the Supreme Court stopped him.

Trump’s stance on immigration, and on Dreamers in particular, is riddled with contradictions. Whatever he ends up doing when he takes office carries major implications for some 500,000 people who have built lives in the United States and often have no connections at all to the countries where they were born.

“We have to do something about the Dreamers because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age,” Trump said on “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “And many of these are middle-aged people now. They don’t even speak the language of their country.”

Trump said he would work with Democrats on a plan and blamed them for not protecting Dreamers. But, in fact, it was President Barack Obama who first took executive action in 2012 to spare Dreamers from deportation through a policy called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

On Sunday, Trump seemed surprised that President Joe Biden had not passed a law to protect Dreamers from efforts to gut the program, like Trump’s own attempt in 2017.

“You know, Biden could’ve done it because he controlled, you know, Congress to a certain extent, right?” Trump said. “He could’ve done something, but they didn’t do it. I never understood why because they always seemed to want to do it, but then when it comes down to it, they don’t.”

Supporters of Dreamers appeared skeptical of Trump’s latest comments.

“Actions speak louder than words, and Donald Trump’s track record in attacking DACA, fueling depraved disinformation and violence, and scapegoating immigrants extend back to his very first day in office to today,” said Bruna Sollod, senior political director for United We Dream, an immigrant advocacy organization.

When Trump first announced the decision to unwind DACA, he said it was simply a decision driven by the law.

“As president, my highest duty is to defend the American people and the Constitution of the United States of America,” he said in September 2017. “At the same time, I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws.”

When he undid the protections, he pushed Congress to come up with a solution. “Congress, get ready to do your job — DACA!” he tweeted.

But Trump has at times spoken fondly of Dreamers and seemed open to protecting them for the future. A few months later, in January 2018, he appeared to consider a move to provide a path toward citizenship for the Dreamers.

“Over a period of 10 to 12 years,” he said, “somebody does a great job, they work hard — that gives incentive to do a great job. Whatever they’re doing, if they do a great job, I think it’s a nice thing to have the incentive of, after a period of years, being able to become a citizen.”

Of course, there was never a deal in Congress, and no path to U.S. citizenship was provided to Dreamers.

A few months later, in April 2018, he appeared to harden his perspective.

“Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release,” he wrote on social media. “Getting more dangerous. ‘Caravans’ coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!”

Even after he was stymied by the Supreme Court, which blocked his effort to roll back the protections, Trump said in the summer of 2020 that he would try again.

“We will be submitting enhanced papers shortly in order to properly fulfill the Supreme Court’s ruling & request of yesterday,” he tweeted after the court’s ruling.

In the same message, he said he wanted to help Dreamers but that Democrats stood in the way.

“I have wanted to take care of DACA recipients better than the Do Nothing Democrats, but for two years they refused to negotiate — They have abandoned DACA,” he added. “Based on the decision the Dems can’t make DACA citizens. They gained nothing!”

Some Republicans are still looking for ways to get rid of the program. In October, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments over a lawsuit brought by Republican-led states seeking to end the program.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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