Trump ends DACA: Obama slams decision, calls it 'wrong' and 'cruel'

Former US president Barack Obama has decried his successor Donald Trump's decision to end an amnesty for 800,000 people brought to America illegally as children, calling it "wrong," "self-defeating" and "cruel."

"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. And it is cruel," he said in a statement yesterday hours after US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has been rescinded.

"What if our kid's science teacher, or our friendly neighbour 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?" Obama questioned.

He said the move was not "required legally", while terming it a "political decision".

Trump scrapped the Obama-era amnesty programme that granted work permits to immigrants who arrived in the country illegally as children, a move likely to impact 800,000 undocumented workers including more than 7,000 Indian- Americans.
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