Cruel': Obama sharply criticizes Trump's end to Dreamers program

In his most significant foray into public life since leaving the presidency, Barack Obama condemned the end of the program that protected young immigrants “Wrong”, “self-defeating” and “cruel”.

In an extraordinary 850-word statement, Barack Obama sharply criticized Donald Trump’s move on Tuesday to strip protections from young undocumented immigrants known as “Dreamers”.

It was Obama’s most significant foray in public life since he left the presidency. He had previously issued a brief statement, through a spokesperson, criticizing Trump’s attempted travel ban, and a lengthy written statement on Republican attempts to repeal his signature healthcare law. He also tweeted a series of Nelson Mandela quotes after racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month.

“Let’s be clear,” wrote Obama. “The action taken today isn’t required legally. It’s a political decision, and a moral question.”In the statement, which was posted to his Facebook page, Obama blasted Trump’s move to repeal the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or Daca, calling it “a political decision”. Earlier on Tuesday, the Trump administration branded Daca “unilateral executive amnesty”.

To be eligible for the Obama-era program, applicants needed to have arrived in the US before age 15 and before 2007. The program granted protection from deportation and made work permits available and was billed as a way of bringing its 800,000 enrollees out of the shadow economy and recognizing their American identities.

“But today, that shadow has been cast over some of our best and brightest young people once again,” Obama said.

“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.

A shadow has been cast over some of our best and brightest young people once again

Barack Obama

“What if our kid’s science teacher, or our friendly neighbor 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 urged congress to pass legislation replacing protection for young migrants who arrived as children.

“I join my voice with the majority of Americans who hope they step up and do it with a sense of moral urgency that matches the urgency these young people feel,” he said.

“Ultimately, this is about basic decency.”

The White House did not have an immediate reaction. Trump earlier sought to shift responsibility on the issue to Congress, which he exhorted in a tweet in advance of his policy announcement to “do your job”.