WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Senior White House officials and congressional Republicans have floated the idea of providing immigrants who are currently covered by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme with a path to obtain permanent residence status in order to end the partial US government shutdown, Axios reported on Wednesday.

Republican senators have advocated for such a move and President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner has relayed the idea to his White House colleagues as a possible way to break the congressional deadlock, the Axios news portal reported.

On Saturday, Trump unveiled his latest proposal to the end the government shutdown, saying it would give DACA recipients and those holding Temporary Protected Status (TPS) a three-year reprieve from deportation in exchange for $5.7 billion in border security funds.

The Trump administration announced in 2017 that it would phase out DACA and rescind some TPS protections, but the two decisions have been challenged in federal courts and two judges have issued injunctions blocking Trump from rescinding DACA.

Leading Democrats have as a result dismissed Trump's deal as a non-starter, calling for a permanent solution for DACA beneficiaries, also known as "Dreamers," as well as TPS recipients.

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Some 700,000 immigrants are currently covered under the DACA program. A permanent residency card, or "green" card, would allow Dreamers to live and work permanently in the United States without fear of being deported.

The US federal government has been partially shut down since December 22 as a result of a dispute between Trump and congressional Democrats. Trump has asked Congress to authorize $5.7 billion to build the wall, but Democrats have refused to meet the demand.