President Donald Trump is working on an executive order to establish a merit-based immigration system in the US, the White House has said. The White House statement came soon after Trump, in an interview with Spanish-language Telemundo News channel, said he is working on an executive order on immigration that will include a "road to citizenship" for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme.

The DACA programme provides for work permits and other protections for people brought to the US as children by undocumented parents. It affects an estimated 700,000 young people, many of whom are Indian or South Asian descent. Responding to a question during the interview, Trump said his action on the DACA is going to be part of a much bigger bill on immigration. "It's going to be a very big bill, a very good bill, and a merit-based bill and it will include DACA, and I think people are going to be very happy," said the president.