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Obama Says Rescinding DACA Is ‘Cruel’: ‘They Have Done Nothing Wrong’

Posted byBy Associated Press | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Former President Barack Obama  (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama calls President Donald Trump’s decision to phase out the so-called DACA program “cruel” and “self-defeating.”

The program has provided nearly 800,000 young immigrants a reprieve from deportation. The Trump administration announced Tuesday it’s rescinding the program and leaving it to Congress to come up with an alternative.

Obama did not mention Trump by name in his statement but says a “shadow has been cast” over some of the nation’s best and brightest young people. He says targeting them is wrong “because they have done nothing wrong.”

Obama says it’s up to members of Congress to act and he joins his voice with the majority of Americans who hopes Congress will step up. The program, created by Obama, has given young immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children, a reprieve from deportation and the ability to work legally in the country.

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