Washington : US President Donald Trump has ruled out allowing Congress to include any legislation to provide a solution for so-called “DREAMers” in the spending bill this year.

Trump took the position in a White House meeting on Thursday with seven Republican Senators, according to what the lawmakers said upon emerging from the get-together, Efe news reported.

This stance could spark a battle with Democratic lawmakers or even a government shutdown due to lack of funds.

In September, Trump announced that he was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme, implemented in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama, which shielded some 800,000 young undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country by their parents as children, known as “DREAMers”.

Trump, however, gave Congress six months – until March 5, 2018, to find a legislative solution for the situation of the young immigrants.

But the Democratic opposition in Congress wants a law guaranteeing protection for the “DREAMers” – that is ensuring that they cannot be deported now that DACA has been cancelled – before December 31.

Some Democratic Senators like Kamala Harris and Ben Cardin have pushed the idea of including the measure in the budget bill that Congress must approve in December to keep the government solvent.

Trump did not publicly mention at the White House meeting on Thursday the ongoing conversations about the budget, telling journalists only that he wanted Congress to end the Diversity Visa Lottery and so-called “chain migration” whereby immigrants may bring in other relatives from abroad.

Trump wants the legislation that will replace DACA to include measures to strengthen border security, limit the granting of visas to a merit-based system and create a point-system whereby immigrants may obtain permanent residence in the US.

—IANS