Not for the first time since Donald Trump was elected president, leaders from some of the world’s biggest tech companies have united against him, this time in opposition to his call to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Obama-era program that has protected about 840,000 undocumented immigrants in America, dubbed “Dreamers,” could face deportation. Trump said he would wait six months to put the executive order into effect to give Congress a chance to come up with a new program. Even so, the shift plunges Dreamers, who were brought into the U.S. illegally as children, into uncertainty.

The decision, according to the White House, was made to protect American jobs from those who were illegally living in the country. “I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents,” Trump said in a statement. “But we must also recognize that we are a nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws.” Most of those affected are Latin-American.

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Sept. 6, 2017

Former President Barack Obama himself took to Facebook, stating that many of those affected are young immigrants who have grown up as American children and may not even know they are undocumented. He called the move “cruel” and contrary to common sense. “It made no sense to expel talented, driven, patriotic young people from the only country they know solely because of the actions of their parents,” wrote Obama, adding that deportation not only lacks moral decency but would not “lower the unemployment rate, or lighten anyone’s taxes, or raise anybody’s wages.”

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg also wrote a post, calling the move a sad day for America. “If you live in the US, call your members of Congress and tell them to do the right thing,” wrote Zuckerberg. “We have always been a nation of immigrants, and immigrants have always made our nation stronger.”

Trump’s decision on DACA is the ugliest and most cruel decision ever made by a president of the U.S. in the modern history of this country. pic.twitter.com/3k64uuo2XM

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) Sept. 5, 2017

Other tech leaders were unanimous in decrying the decision. Microsoft Corp. President and Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith, called for new legislation to protect the Dreamers. He called such legislation an “economic imperative and a humanitarian necessity” calling the people under threat part of the fabric on the United States.

Dreamers are our neighbors, our friends and our co-workers. This is their home. Congress needs to act now to #DefendDACA. #WithDreamers

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) Sept. 5, 2017

Last week more than 300 tech leaders signed a letter published on FWD.us in favor of maintaining the DACA program. That included executives from Amazon.com Inc., Google LLC, Microsoft Corp., Facebook and Apple Inc. “The time of reckoning is here,” said Todd Schulte, president of FWD, a lobbying group for immigration reform. “We call on the American people to speak out and demand Congress pass a bipartisan Dream Act,” said Schulte.

Dreamers make our country & communities stronger. We stand for diversity and economic opportunity for everyone. https://t.co/gRCr8VWwcN

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) Sept. 5, 2017

In a letter to employees, Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote that 250 of Apple’s own employees were Dreamers. Speaking of those Dreamers, he said they “contribute to our company, our economy and our communities just as much as you and I do.”

Following the decision, protesters immediately took to the streets outside the White House and the Justice Department. The move has provoked widespread dismay almost across the board, although immigration hardliners applauded the President’s decision.

“NumbersUSA applauds the President for keeping his campaign promise,” organization President Roy Beck said in a statement. “Now it is time for Congress to focus on strong immigration enforcement measures and reforms to our legal immigration system that put American workers first.”

Image: Harrie van Veen via Flickr