“Wrong,” “self-defeating,” and “cruel,” former president Barack Obama said Tuesday of the Trump administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The decision clouds the future of nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.Obama condemned the decision in a Facebook post, writing that a “shadow has been cast over some of our best and brightest young people once again.”“Let’s be clear: The action taken today isn’t required legally,” Obama wrote. “It’s a political decision, and a moral question.”“Ultimately, this is about basic decency,” Obama added. “This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America, or whether we treat them the way we’d want our own kids to be treated. It’s about who we are as a people – and who we want to be.”The former president created DACA in June 2012 through an executive action, which President Trump vowed to overturn in his election campaign last year.The Trump administration formally rescinded the program Tuesday, calling Obama’s executive orders an “overreach” and saying “we cannot admit everyone who would like to come here.” In a statement, Trump also called on Congress to replace the legislation before the program fully ends in March of 2018.
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