(Reuters) - The Trump administration drew vigorous responses to its announcement on Tuesday it would be ending an Obama-era program that allows children to stay in the United States who entered the country illegally.  Business executives, politicians and rights groups were outspoken in their reactions to the plan to dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), whose beneficiaries were known as Dreamers. “Kicking them out won’t lower the unemployment rate or lighten anyone’s taxes or raise anybody’s wages ... Ultimately, this is about basic decency. This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America or whether we treat them the way we’d want our own kids to be treated.  It’s about who we are as a people – and who we want to be.” - Former President Barack Obama in a statement  * “Today is a cruel day for Dreamers, our families, and all Americans ... President Trump just threw the lives and futures of 800,000 Dreamers and their families, including my own, into fearful disarray, and injected chaos and uncertainty into thousands of workplaces and communities across America. He is using the lives of 800,000 people as pawns.” - Lorella Praeli, director of immigration policy for the American Civil Liberties Union * “It is my hope that the House and Senate, with the president’s leadership, will be able to find consensus on a permanent legislative solution that includes ensuring that those who have done nothing wrong can still contribute as a valued part of this great country.” - Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan in a statement * “This is a sad day for our country. The decision to end DACA is not just wrong. It is particularly cruel to offer young people the American Dream, encourage them to come out of the shadows and trust our government, and then punish them for it ... It’s time for Congress to act to pass the bipartisan Dream Act or another legislative solution that gives Dreamers a pathway to citizenship.” - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a Facebook post * “President Obama wrongly believed he had the authority to re-write our immigration law. Today’s action by President Trump corrects that fundamental mistake. This Congress will continue working on securing our border and ensuring a lawful system of immigration that works.” - Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell * “I applaud President Trump for phasing out DACA ... The Obama-era program went far beyond the executive branch’s legitimate authority ... President (Barack) Obama unilaterally conferred lawful presence and work authorization, and then President Obama used that lawful-presence dispensation to unilaterally confer U.S. citizenship.” - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton * “Let’s lay the truth bare: President Trump has knowingly deceived the American people over the past seven months about his intentions to protect the innocent young men and women of the DACA program ... Now they will be awake at night wondering whether tomorrow will be their last day on American soil.” - Javier Palomarez, president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, in a statement also announcing his resignation from Trump’s diversity council * “When people come here to learn, work hard and give back to their communities, we should allow them to stay in the United States.” JPMorgan Chase & Co chief executive Jamie Dimon, chairman of the Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs of the nation’s largest companies * “DACA was an unconstitutional overreach by the Obama administration that created incentives for children from Central America to take great risks to enter America illegally. The president has given Congress six months to get our act together and fix our broken legal immigration system, end incentives for illegal entry, lawfully protect the Dreamers, and secure our borders.” - Republican Senator Ron Johnson, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee * “In our view, DACA was an unconstitutional abuse of executive authority by President Obama ... Congress should seize this opportunity to come together and forge these much-needed reforms in our nation’s immigration policy.” - Statement from the Federation for American Immigration Reform * “We say this even though Microsoft ... cares greatly about modernizing the tax system and making it fairer and more competitive. But we need to put the humanitarian needs of these 800,000 people on the legislative calendar before a tax bill.” - Microsoft president Brad Smith in a statement, adding that Microsoft has at least 39 Dreamers and will pay for their legal counsel in fighting to stay in the United States 
Factbox: Trump plan to dismantle 'Dreamer' program draws strong responses