‘Wrong and cruel’: Obama, critics slam Trump for scrapping DACA
President Donald Trump claimed to have “great love” for undocumented immigrants facing deportation because of his administration rescinding their Obama-era protection, but critics slammed the decision as “wrong” and “cruel”.
Attorney general Jeff Sessions had on Tuesday announced he was rescinding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an order passed by former president Barack Obama in 2012 which prevented the deportation of undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children.
Claiming to be on the side of those affected by the order’s repeal, Trump sought to transfer their fate into the hands of congress, telling reporters: “I have a love for these people and hopefully now congress will be able to help them and do it properly.”
Trump called for a bipartisan effort “to address immigration reform in a way that puts hardworking citizens of our country first, managing to push the responsibility of the DACA immigrants on to congress.
He later tweeted he will “revisit” the issue if congress fails to come up with a solution.
Obama defended the order in a rare public criticism of Trump. “To target these young people is wrong – because they have done nothing wrong. It is self-defeating – because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love,” he said, adding that their facing deportation was “cruel”.
Former president Bill Clinton said: “It’s wrong because it’s cruel to send these young people to places many of them have never lived and do not know. For them this is home.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg used almost the same language: “The decision to end DACA is not just wrong. It is particularly cruel to offer young people the American dream, encourage them to come out of the shadows and trust our government, and then punish them for it.”
An estimated 800,000 people have received DACA protection in the five years since it was instituted, including nearly 8,000 from India, according to the US customs and immigration services.
All of them face deportation unless congress is able a way to address the situation. Lawmakers have till March 5, 2018 before the exemptions granted under by the 2012 order run out.