Obama: Trump immigration decision is 'cruel'

Former US president Barack Obama has said Donald
Trump's decision to roll back the 'Dreamers'
programme is "wrong" and "cruel".
In a long Facebook post made on Tuesday afternoon,
Mr Obama said that the move was a "political
decision, and a moral question" that was not required
legally.
"We shouldn't threaten the future of this group of
young people who are here through no fault of their
own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away
anything from the rest of us," he wrote.
Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he will
end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
program, giving a six month window for Congress to
put forward an alternative.
The scheme allows undocumented migrants who
arrived in the United States as children to apply for
permits to live and work legally in the USA.
It was introduced by Barack Obama in 2012, but the
former President had hoped to pass wider ranging
legislation.
An original proposal, the Development, Relief and
Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) act, sought to
grant permanent residency to those who had arrived
illegally, but the DACA program was introduced as a
compromise when that legislation failed to pass.
Around 800,000 people currently live in the USA under
the DACA program - many of whom have jobs,
homes, families or are pursuing an education in the
country - and are now at risk of deportation.
Those who have been in the country since early
childhood may not be protected from potential
removal, often to countries they have not visited for
years or even decades.
Donald Trump has defended his decision, arguing that
he is protecting American jobs and upholding the rule
of law.
Protesters rally in support of DACA outside the
White House
It is now up to Congress to outline an alternative
legislation that can offer the young migrants
protection from deportation.
Mr Obama called on lawmakers to "protect these
young people and our future", in an unusual
intervention for a politician who in the past has shied
away from strident criticism of Mr Trump's policies.
"What if our kid's science teacher, or our friendly
neighbor turns out to be a Dreamer? Where are we
supposed to send her? To a country she doesn't
know or remember, with a language she may not
even speak?" Mr Obama wrote.
"What makes us American is our fidelity to a set of
ideals - that all of us are created equal; that all of us
deserve the chance to make of our lives what we
will."

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