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White House chief: Dreamers not priority for deportation In this Jan. 30, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump gestures as delivers his first State of the Union address in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol to a joint session of Congress in Washington, as Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan applaud. Less than a week ago, Trump stood before the nation and called for a new era of bipartisan cooperation. �€œTonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve,�€� he said, extolling how the country had come together in recent times of tragedy. A week later, such talk is but a distant memory. The Associated Press Tuesday Feb 6, 2018 at 8:36 AM The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The White House chief of staff says "Dreamers" would not be a priority for deportation, even if their Obama-era protections expire and a deadlocked Congress hasn't completed a deal to protect them. John Kelly has told a small group of reporters at the Capitol that as long as an immigrant in the U.S. illegally has no criminal record, they are likely to stay "out of anyone's scope" for a long time. He says, "They are not a priority for deportation." Kelly says he believes President Donald Trump wouldn't extend "Dreamers" protections beyond March 5 because he doesn't think the president has legal authority to prolong it. He also says Trump won't ask Congress for a short-term extension of that program. Kelly says of lawmakers, "What makes them act is pressure."