US to phase out young immigrants program

By: The Associated Press/ABC News 

Email: news@abc6.com

Twitter: @ABC6

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s decision on a program that shields from deportation young immigrants brought to the country illegally.

The Trump administration has announced that it will wind down a program protecting young immigrants from deportation.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday called the program known as DACA as an “unconstitutional exercise of authority by the executive branch.”

He says the Trump administration is urging Congress to find an alternate way to protect young immigrants brought into the country illegally as children.

Sessions says the U.S. needs to have a lawful immigration that “serves the national interest” and the U.S. cannot admit everyone who wants to come to the country.

President Donald Trump will phase out a program that has protected hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought into the country illegally as children. He will call for Congress to find a legislative solution to protect the immigrants, who are often called “Dreamers.”

That is according to two people who were briefed on the plan set to be announced later Tuesday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans publicly before the announcement.

Trump suggested in an earlier tweet Tuesday that it would be up to Congress to ultimately decide the fate of those covered by President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program.

DACA has provided nearly 800,000 young immigrants a reprieve from deportation and the ability to work legally in the U.S.

©WLNE/ABC6 2017