The president has scrapped a programme created during Barack Obama’s reign in the White House.
US President Donald Trump has rescinded a programme known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which protected men and women who were brought into the United States illegally as children.
According to Reuters, approximately 800,000 young men and women in the US will be affected by Trump’s decision to scrap the programme, which was introduced by the Obama administration in 2012.
Under DACA, referred to as the ‘Dreamer’ programme, certain illegal immigrants who had been brought into the United States as minors were allowed a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit.
Trump’s decision to scrap the programme was announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday and the President himself has urged Congress to replace the programme with legislation before it officially expires on March 5 next year.
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Commenting on the move to reporters on Tuesday, Sessions said: “To have a lawful system of immigration that serves the national interest, we cannot admit everyone who would like to come here."
“It’s just that simple,” he added.
“That would be an open-border policy and the American people have rightly rejected that.”
Trump’s decision has already met with opposition, including from immigrant, youth-led organisation United We Dream.
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The New York Times, meanwhile, reported that there was concern amongst officials in his administration that as late as one hour before the decision was announced, President Trump still didn’t grasp the consequences it would have for hundreds of thousands of people in the United States.
