--- title: Barack Obama Rips Donald Trump Over DACA Decision description: Former President Barack Obama denounced Trump's decision to rescind the DACA program on Tuesday. canonical: https://time.com/4927707/barack-obama-daca-donald-trump/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-05T19:12:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:17:27.762Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'This Is About Basic Decency.' Obama Rips Trump Over DACA Decision og:description: The former President issued a rare public statement on a Trump decision og:url: https://time.com/4927707/barack-obama-daca-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9684c635aac424ca/6988dc82196cf4422a041c9d/daca-obama-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: daca-obama-trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'This Is About Basic Decency.' Obama Rips Trump Over DACA Decision twitter:description: The former President issued a rare public statement on a Trump decision twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9684c635aac424ca/6988dc82196cf4422a041c9d/daca-obama-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'This Is About Basic Decency.' Obama Rips Trump Over DACA Decision  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Sep 5, 2017 7:12 PM UTC  Demonstrators gather on Pennsylvania Avenue during a demonstration in response to the Trump Administration's announcement that it would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on Sept. 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. Demonstrators gather on Pennsylvania Avenue during a demonstration in response to the Trump Administration's announcement that it would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on Sept. 5, 2017 in Washington, DC.Zach Gibson—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Sep 5, 2017 7:12 PM UTC Former President Barack Obama on Tuesday issued a rare statement condemning a policy decision of his successor, Donald Trump. The rebuke comes after the Trump Administration [announced it would phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA](http://time.com/4927227/daca-undocumented-dreamers-jeff-sessions/?xid=homepage), an Obama-era program protecting from deportation nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as minors by their parents. In a statement Tuesday, Trump accused Obama of “making an end-run around Congress” by enacting DACA by executive order, as well as “violating the core tenets that sustain our Republic.” “The legislative branch, not the executive branch, writes these laws – this is the bedrock of our Constitutional system, which I took a solemn oath to preserve, protect, and defend,” Trump said. Obama countered later Tuesday, writing on Twitter that “to target hopeful young strivers who grew up here is wrong, because they’ve done nothing wrong.” He then linked to a [lengthier statement on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/barackobama/posts/10155227588436749). > [](https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/905141484386750469) Read Obama’s full statement below: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4927707/barack-obama-daca-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4927707/barack-obama-daca-donald-trump/"},"headline":"'This Is About Basic Decency.' 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