It protects immigrants who arrived as children illegally

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to scrap a programme that grants work permits to immigrants who arrived in the country illegally as children, a move likely to impact more than 7,000 Indian-Americans, a media report said.

The programme — Deferred Action for Children Arrivals (DACA) — was a key immigration reform of the former Barack Obama.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders had told reporters on Friday that Mr. Trump would take a decision on the issue this week.

Roll-out this week?

However, Politico, in an exclusive story reported on Sunday, said that Mr. Trump has already decided to rescind this programme and senior administration officials are now discussing the roll-out of his decision which could come later this week.

Such a decision by the U.S. President, one of his poll promises, is expected to draw widespread criticism including from his own Republican party. The move is likely to impact some 7,50,000 undocumented workers, including more than 7,000 Indian-Americans.

India ranks 11th among countries of origin for DACA students, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services statistics available till March 31, 2017.