Graham said he has been talking with other senators about a deal that would include $5 billion in wall funding coupled with two measures to shield immigrants from deportation. One is the Bridge Act, bipartisan legislation that would extend DACA protection to some 700,000 young immigrants already in the program. The other component would be a fix for nearly 400,000 immigrants in the Temporary Protective Status program whose status has been jeopardized by the administration's decision to roll back that program, which is for arrivals from certain countries facing disaster and war-torn conditions.
Pelosi has already said she opposes trading DACA for the wall, and it's unclear if other Democrats and Republicans would be willing to engage in immigration negotiations. But Graham called such a compromise the best way out of the shutdown.
"If you got a better off-ramp I'm all ears," he said.
Trump ally Sean Hannity on his Fox News show Thursday said the president is "willing to negotiate DACA." But Vice President Mike Pence told Fox News late Thursday, "Bottom line, if there's no wall, there's no deal."
In their first votes of the new Congress, House Democrats approved bills Thursday night to re-open government at previously agreed upon levels. Several Republicans crossed over to join them.
Friday's White House meeting with Trump includes eight leaders - the top two Democrats and Republicans of both chambers. A session earlier in the week produced finger pointing with no breakthroughs.
