US President Donald Trump has decided to end a programme that grants work permits to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children with a six-month delay, the media reported.
Trump has wrestled for months with whether to do away with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme introduced by his predecessor Barack Obama in June 2012 to shield hundreds of thousands of undocumented youths from deportation.
But conversations with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who argued that Congress was responsible for writing immigration law, helped persuade the President to terminate the programme, the informed sources told Politico news on Sunday.
In a nod to reservations held by many lawmakers, the White House has planned to delay the enforcement of the President’s decision for six months, giving Congress a window to act, the sources said.
Trump is expected to formally make an announcement on the programme’s termination on Tuesday, and the White House informed House Speaker Paul Ryan of the President’s decision on Sunday
On Friday, Ryan said that he did not think the President should terminate DACA and that Congress should act on the issue.
According to official documents, approximately 800,000 undocumented immigrants are currently benefiting from the DACA programme.
Permits under DACA are granted for two years before needing to be renewed.
The latest study by groups that support DACA estimated that 1,400 people a day could lose their protections if renewals ended.
Former Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has condemned the move.
“If Trump decides to end DACA, it will be one of the ugliest and cruelest decisions ever made by a president in our modern history,” the Vermont Senator tweeted on Sunday night.