Obama tells Trump: Protect 'Dreamers'

President Obama urged Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump to leave G-7 summit early, travel directly to Singapore Stormy Daniels’s former attorney files defamation suit against her Justice Department seizes reporter's phone, email records in leak probe: report MORE to protect so-called “Dreamers” from deportation, according to Democrats who on Wednesday recounted Obama’s description of his conversation with the president-elect.

“His message was, those are good kids who didn’t do anything wrong,” a Democratic lawmaker told Politico after Obama met with House and Senate Democrats. “That was heartfelt. He brought that up.”

Obama huddled with congressional Democrats at the Capitol Wednesday morning to discuss the future of ObamaCare, but he also told lawmakers he “spoke to Trump very directly” about the need to uphold the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation.

The Democratic lawmaker also told Politico that the outgoing president indicated he will remain active in any political fight over DACA.

Trump’s election win has stirred fears among many immigrants and activists that mass deportation of undocumented immigrants may not be far away. The real estate mogul made hardline immigration crackdowns a cornerstone of his presidential campaign. Trump, however, has toned down his rhetoric on “Dreamers” since his victory in November.