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What suburban members of Congress say about Trump's DACA decision

Democratic members of Congress from the suburbs were quick Tuesday to denounce President Donald Trump's decision to end an Obama-era program preventing the deportation of immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, while local Republicans have not indicated what they think needs to be done.

"In my first conversation with President Trump on Inauguration Day, I thanked him for the positive things he had said about the Dreamers. He looked me in the eye and said: 'Don't worry. We are going to take care of those kids,'" U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said of the 800,000 young immigrants granted protections under the program.

Durbin went on to describe Tuesday's announcement by the Trump administration as one that was "cold, harsh, threatening, and showed little respect."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday that Trump would "wind down" the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program in six months, with the aim that Congress take action on the young immigrants' future.

"Congress, get ready to do your job - DACA!" Trump said on Twitter Tuesday morning as lawmakers returned to Washington from their August recess.

But Tuesday night, Trump tweeted: "Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do). If they can't, I will revisit this issue!"

Democrats warn of the social and economic consequences of ending the program and losing hundreds of thousands of young people who are living and working in the U.S.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg said the issue is personal for him, as he was brought to the United States from New Delhi, India, as a child so his father could attend graduate school.

"The hope for a better life which carried my parents here was no different from that of the parents of Dreamers, and generations of immigrants before," he said, using a common term for the DACA participants.

Some Republicans in the GOP-led Congress support making DACA permanent, while others remain opposed.

Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton released a statement to the Daily Herald calling the nation's immigration "clearly broken" but declined to say how to fix it. Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren of Plano did not respond to requests for comment.

"This is just the latest crystal clear example of a broken system. We need immigration policies that make our country safer, stronger, and more economically prosperous," Roskam said.

DACA participants must have arrived in the U.S. before age 16; been 30 or younger on June 15, 2012; be in school or have a high school diploma, GED certificate or honorable discharge from the military; and have no serious criminal offenses.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville said DACA recipients have added roughly $460 billion to the nation's gross domestic product. He called the U.S. "the only home many of these young people have ever known, and their presence has made our country stronger."

"Congress needs to act immediately to overturn this outrageous action," Democratic U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston said. "DACA recipients should know that these may be dark days, but we're not done fighting with them."

Sessions, in his comments, criticized the program as "unilateral executive amnesty."

Durbin and Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham on Tuesday unveiled a bipartisan plan to allow young immigrants who grew up in the United States to earn lawful permanent residence and eventually American citizenship.

"We need to pass in this month of September ... a permanent law in this country that says these people will have their chance to be a part of America's future," Durbin said at a news conference.

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President Donald Trump's administration will "wind down" a program protecting hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children, Attorney General Jeff Sessions declared Tuesday. Associated Press
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