Donald Trump confirmed he is ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era program that protected undocumented minors from deportation. In a statement Tuesday he insisted he was giving Congress “a window of opportunity to finally act."

Hardline Republicans criticized DACA as an overreach by Obama, claiming immigration policy should come from Congress, not the president. "We will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion," Trump insisted, "but through the lawful democratic process. It is now time for Congress to act!"

Attorney General Jeff Sessions told reporters the program will "wind down" and officially end six months from now on March 5. (Current DACA recipients have until October 5 to apply for a two-year renewal.)

“The nation must set and enforce a limit on how many immigrants we admit each year and that means all can not be accepted,” said Sessions. “This does not mean they are bad people or that our nation disrespects or demeans them in any way. It means we are properly enforcing our laws as Congress has passed them.”

According to the Williams Institute there are some 75,000 LGBT Dreamers, including 36,000 who have participated in the DACA program. The president maintained that all 800,000-some immigrants affected by DACA will not become top priority for deportation. But he didn't rule out that some may be ordered to leave the country: “I have advised the Department of Homeland Security that DACA recipients are not enforcement priorities unless they are criminals, are involved in criminal activity, or are members of a gang.”

Response from the LGBT community has been swift and condemning.

GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis said that, coupled with Trump's Muslim ban and pardoning of Joe Arpaio, the DACA repeal was part of "a trifecta of President Trump’s full embrace of the violent, out-of-touch ideology of white supremacists."

Victory Institute president AIsha C. Moodie-Mills called Trump's announcement "cruel and cowardly."

"[It] fits with a pattern of implementing racist, xenophobic and anti-LGBTQ policies that target core American values and move our country backward," she added. "Our community will be in the streets protesting this injustice, and our LGBTQ members of Congress are committed to fight for legislation that protects Dreamers and creates a humane immigration program."

Forbidden: Undocumented And Queer in Rural America airs Thursday, September 7 at 9/8c and 10:30/9:30c on Logo.