SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee on Tuesday denounced the White House decision to rescind a federal program that gives undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children a chance to stay and work.
"To punish them (the children) for seeking a better life is unconscionably cruel," Lee said in a statement.
On the same day, several members of the San Francisco city and county Board of Supervisors held a press conference at San Francisco City Hall to voice their opposition against the decision announced by the U.S. Department of Justice earlier in the day.
The DACA program was implemented in 2012, and essentially provided a legal status for recipients or a renewable two-year term work authorization and other benefits. As the DACA program was only open to those who have arrived in the United States at young age, the DACA recipients were often referred to as the "Dreamers."
"As a country and as a government, we asked young people to step out of the shadows and participate in the DACA program. Now, this administration wants to attack them for their courageous action," said Mayor Lee. "This country needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Until we do that, political decisions like these will continue to divide our communities and tear families apart."
San Francisco has one of the most ethnically diversified populations across the United States. In addition, an estimated one-third of about 800,000 participants in the DACA program live in California, a state on the U.S. West Coast. And California by itself is the most populous state in the country.
