Plea to president to keep help for migrant children

DONALD TRUMP has come under pressure not to scrap a programme introduced by Barack Obama that protects young, undocumented immigrants. Paul Ryan, the Republican House speaker, has appealed to the president to resist calls to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) scheme.

The programme, which Mr Trump pledged to scrap before election, provides temporary residency for children who were brought into the US illegally. An estimated 800,000 people – known as “Dreamers” – have been spared deportation and granted work or study visas.

Mr Trump’s stance appeared to have softened in recent months. He said in an interview in April that Dreamers could “rest easy”, insisting his administration was after criminals who were in the country illegally.

But Mr Trump is under pressure from Conservatives to honour his pledge, with 10 states threatening to sue the administration if the scheme is not scrapped.

The president’s decision is due on Tuesday.