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Ten Republican state attorneys general on Thursday urged federal authorities to rescind a policy set by former U.S. President Barack Obama that protects from deportation nearly 600,000 immigrants brought into the country illegally by their parents, known as "Dreamers."

Obama, a Democrat, had hoped that overhauling the U.S. immigration system and resolving the fate of the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally would be part of his presidential legacy. But Republican President Donald Trump has vowed to crack down on illegal immigration.

The Department of Homeland Security earlier this month rescinded a separate Obama-era policy meant to cover illegal immigrant parents that had been blocked by the courts. However, DHS said the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, policy covering "Dreamers" was still in effect.

In a letter on Thursday, the Republican attorneys general asked that DHS abolish the DACA program going forward, while noting that the government did not have to rescind permits that had already been issued.

If the federal government does not withdraw DACA, the attorneys general said they would file a legal challenge to the program in federal court in Texas.

A DHS representative referred questions to the U.S. Department of Justice, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 10 Republican attorneys general who signed the letter represent the states of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Nebraska, Arkansas, South Carolina, Idaho, Tennessee, West Virginia and Kansas.

A larger coalition of 26 Republican AGs had challenged the policy covering illegal immigrant parents.

In a statement, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said it took encouragement from the diminished number of attorneys general signing onto the DACA letter, and urged Trump not to "cave in to the toothless threat" of legal action.

(Reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

BEIJING China reacted relatively calmly on Friday after a series of diplomatic broadsides by the United States, expressing anger over new arms sales by Washington to Taiwan but hoping ties could soon be brought back on track.

Maine lawmakers will vote on a budget plan on Friday that would repeal a 3 percent tax hike on those who earn at least $200,000 and increase education funding to try to avert a partial government shutdown threatened by Governor Paul LePage.

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Republican attorneys general target Obama 'Dreamer' program - Reuters

Photo Credit Anthony Gerace, photograph by Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re The Anti-Legacy, by Peter Baker (news analysis, Sunday Review, June 25):

Do you know why President Trump is working so hard to tear down former President Barack Obamas legacy? Because Mr. Obama represents everything that Mr. Trump is not: an articulate orator, a deep thinker and someone who is elegant in style, words and actions.

Mr. Obama brought grace, self-deprecating humor and sensitivity to our countrys deepest concerns, and a fearless commitment to public service. He risked his presidency over his signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act.

Barack Obama is the light, and Donald Trump is the dark, and all the world now knows it.

GABRIELLA EVANS, BELMONT, CALIF.

To the Editor:

Your online headline asks, Can Trump Destroy Obamas Legacy? Its a fair question, but the more important one is what parts of Barack Obamas legacy President Trump will keep.

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How Should We View the Obama Legacy? - New York Times

While the statement wasn't one of then-President Obama's most important pronouncements during his time in office, it was one of the most questionable, from a truth perspective. Said to Ryan Seacrest during a radio interview in March of 2014, it was a response to Obama's critics, those who mocked his denimwear, which, according to years of photographic evidence, leaned toward ill-fitting, stone-washed, and extremely "Dad"-like.

He again wore jeans on Tuesday, this time while on vacation with his family in Bali, Indonesia. The look was a definite upgrade, but the jury's still out as to whether jeans are, or should be, his thing.

"There was one episode like four years ago, in which I was wearing some loose jeans, mainly because I was out on the pitcher's mound and I didn't want to feel confined while I was pitching," Obama told Seacrest during that same conversation. The sartorial moment, which occurred in 2009, stuck with him. "I've paid my penance for that [look.] I got whacked pretty good. Since that time, my jeans fit very well." But, do they? Here's a look back; decide for yourself:

Here's the pitch in July 2009 that earned him the title of Dad jeans king:

In May of that year, cheering on the sidelines of one of his daughter's soccer games, things weren't much better. The super-wide leg, the monotone wash, the awkward length...hi, Dad.

The following year, vacationing in Martha's Vineyard, the jeans were better in the wash department -- more of a gray denim -- but the pairing of them with mandals brought the overall score down. Way down.

But sometime around 2013, he turned a corner. With Malia in Hawaii in July of that year, here's the then-president stepping up his demin game. The fit is tighter, the wash darker, the shoe far more acceptable.

He finished his presidency with no more headline-grabbing jeans debacles, and reemerged in March of this year a new (denim) man. Here he is in DC in March, after a visit to a museum with Michelle Obama. Leather jacket, T-shirt, button-down, good belt, tight jeans. Who is this guy, and what have you done with Barack Obama?

Which brings us to yesterday. The collared, short-sleeved shirt, tucked neatly into the waistband, the telltale sneakers -- it all still says "Dad," but in a far more stylish way. He's embraced a dark wash and he's acknowledged that legs have shape.

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Obama's jeans game gets strong(er) - CNN

(This story corrects typo in 10th paragraph.)

By Jessica Damiana

JAKARTA From white water rafting in Bali to visiting temples on Java, former U.S. President Barack Obama's private family holiday is being closely tracked in Indonesia where he spent four years as a child.

Obama was six when he moved to Jakarta after his American mother, Ann Dunham, married an Indonesian man following the end of her marriage to Obama's Kenyan father.

"I feel proud that my friend became a president," said Sonni Gondokusumo, 56, a former classmate of Obama at the Menteng 01 state elementary school in Jakarta.

Gondokusumo showed a class photograph of himself standing behind a young Obama, who was wearing a school beret.

"He was a clever boy. Whenever a teacher asked him to solve a problem in front of the class, he could do it," Gondokusomo told Reuters, adding he hoped to meet the former president again.

Obama remains popular in the world's most populous Muslim nation and his trip has been splashed across the media during an extended public holiday to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. The Rakyat Merdeka newspaper carried a headline "Obama loves Indonesia".

Obama returned for an official visit as president in 2010 with his wife, Michelle, but this time has brought daughters Malia and Sasha as well.

Indonesians are avid social media users and snaps of the former U.S. president walking with his family in rice fields and rafting on Bali's Ayung River have gone viral.

Obama kicked off the holiday on the island of Bali, where he stayed at the luxurious Four Seasons Resort Bali near the cultural center of Ubud.

On Wednesday, Obama and his family arrived in the city of Yogyakarta on Java island, and visited the ancient temple of Borobudur.

According to CNN Indonesia, Central Java police deployed 700 officers to secure his visit to Borobudur, a Buddhist temple dating from the 8th and 9th centuries.

Obama is due to meet President Joko Widodo on Friday at the palace in Bogor, south of Jakarta, and visit the capital on Saturday.

(Additional reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Nick Macfie)

WASHINGTON Leaders of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said on Wednesday they had reached an agreement that would allow them to see memos written by former FBI Director James Comey about his meetings with President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON Four of Washington's largest business lobby groups urged Congress in a letter on Wednesday to settle their differences on government spending so they can move forward on overhauling the U.S. tax code in the next year.

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Yes he can: 'Clever boy' Obama returns to Indonesia for family vacation - Reuters

Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday reiterated a promise to repeal former President Barack Obama's health care reforms by the end of the summer despite uncertainty over whether a Republican bill has enough votes to pass the Senate.

In a speech delivered at a Cleveland manufacturing facility, Pence defended the bill, saying its measures to expand health savings accounts and create tax credits would make insurance more affordable. He said the legislation would cut costs for businesses and give states flexibility to tailor Medicaid programs to local needs.

"(President Donald Trump) believes in state-based solutions, not one-size-fits-all Washington answers," Pence said.

After Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell abandoned plans to bring the bill to a vote this week, fresh GOP critics came forward to attack the bill, with the number of Republican senators publicly complaining about it hitting double digits.

But despite strong party opposition, Pence said the Trump administration is continuing to make "great progress every single day."

Pence's speech came a day after Ohio U.S. Sen. Rob Portman declared his opposition to the bill, catching the senator in the crosshairs of a high-stakes intraparty fight.

Portman is among Republican senators facing intense pressure back home, targeted by demonstrators, advertisement campaigns and a verbal onslaught from Gov. John Kasich, who has spearheaded GOP criticism of the Senate bill.

Pence didn't criticize Portman. Instead, Pence took aim at Democrats, saying Obama's health reforms had driven up insurance premiums and deductibles and blaming them for obstructing health care reform.

"Obamacare has failed, and Obamacare must go," Pence said. "You'd have to be a politician blinded by partisanship to believe otherwise. But, sadly, Congress is full of them."

Democrats have roundly criticized the Republican plan to scrap the Obama health care law. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said, "Surely we can do better than what the Republican health care bill promises."

In a nod to Ohio's drug overdose problems, Pence singled out opioids in his speech Wednesday, saying the bill would provide new resources to help fight mounting death tolls. Portman has expressed concerns about the impact of slashed Medicaid funding on Ohio's ability to battle the epidemic.

Pence, toward the end of his speech, urged his audience of about 200 people to contact their representatives to put pressure on them to roll back Obama's health care law.

Steven Simons, a 57-year-old paint worker at the workshop where Pence made his speech, said he had faith in the Trump administration's ability to repeal the Democratic former president's health care reforms.

"I know they ain't got it right yet, but they will get it right," Simons said.

Simons said he's covered by employer health insurance and his coverage was reduced under Obama.

Pence also spoke about cutting taxes and bringing manufacturing jobs from overseas.

Earlier in the day, Pence participated in a round-table discussion with business leaders and toured the facility, Tendon Manufacturing, and spoke with workers who demonstrated a laser metal cutter and sheet metal fabricators.

Pence was on his fourth visit to Ohio since taking office in January.

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Pence: Trump will repeal Obama's health law by summer's end - ABC News