Nightmare for 'Dreamers'

President Donald Trump yesterday ended an amnesty for 800,000 people brought illegally to the United States as minors, throwing their future in serious doubt and triggering fierce condemnation from across the political spectrum.

Business leaders, unions, religious groups, opposition Democrats and many within Trump's own Republican party joined forces to criticize the phased end of protections for people who arrived in the United States under the age of 16.

So-called "Dreamers" -- many Hispanic, now in their twenties -- will have somewhere between six and around 24 months before they become illegal and subject to potential deportation.

Trump later insisted he had "great heart for the folks we are talking about, a great love for them" and called on Congress to pass wide-ranging immigration reform -- something lawmakers have tried and failed to do for decades. The president vowed to "revisit" the issue if Congress fails.

Trump had argued that the amnesty introduced by Barack Obama in 2012 was an unconstitutional overreach of presidential powers and would likely be struck down by the courts eventually.

The announcement prompted ex-president Obama to make a rare re-entry onto the political stage to decry the decision as "wrong," "self-defeating" and "cruel."

Around 800,000 people took up the offer to get two-year renewable permits under the DACA scheme, but a similar number opted to stay in the shadows largely because of uncertainty over policy once Obama left office.

Trump, who ran for office on a hard-right immigration and law and order platform, painted his decision as an effort to put natural-born Americans first.

The Mexican government, mayors from across the US and the Service Employees International Union were among those who issued statements of condemnation.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops called the decision "reprehensible" and said "today, our nation has done the opposite of how Scripture calls us to respond."

Opponents hinted that they may challenge Trump's decision in the courts.

Even Trump allies in business and the Republican Party voiced concern, arguing the policy would damage the economy and was not in keeping with US values.

Much of the business world, especially the high-tech firms of California's Silicon Valley, stood firmly against a DACA repeal. The program offers the equivalent of a renewable residence permit to young people who were under the age of 16 when they arrived and have no criminal record.

Top congressional Republican Paul Ryan called on lawmakers to step in -- although the chances of a badly divided Congress reaching a long-elusive agreement on immigration reform in months appear dim.