US President Donald Trump will announce his decision on Tuesday on whether to rescind the Obama-era policy protecting immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children.

This was revealed by the White House on Friday. “We’re actually going to make that announcement on Tuesday of next week,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders of the so-called Dreamer program.

Obama-era programme

Meanwhile, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has urged Trump not to scrap the programme.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) programme provides temporary residency for children brought to the US illegally.

It protects hundreds of thousands of so-called “Dreamers” from deportation and provides work and study permits.

Trump had previously said that he planned to “terminate” the programme.

Ryan urged the president to allow Congress to “work” on the issue.

He said that “conversations” had taken place “with the White House” and that Mr Trump also wanted to find “a humane solution to this problem”.

“There are people that are in limbo. These are kids who know no other country, who were brought here by their parents and don’t know another home.”

On her part, House Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi said that she was “heartened” by Ryan’s comments and asked him to meet with Democratic lawmakers next week to discuss a “comprehensive legislative solution.”

Demonstrations

Demonstrations have also been taking place at the White House in Washington
Ryan’s comments place him among a small but growing number of Republican lawmakers to speak out against scrapping the immigration programme created in 2012 by former Democrat President Barack Obama.

A hard-line stance on immigration was a major theme of Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and deportations have increased since he took office in January.

However business leaders have argued that immigration boosts the US economy and that ending the Daca programme would hit economic growth and tax revenue.