Groups supporting increased immigration and a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal aliens reacted violently to the Trump administration's proposal, and accused Trump of pursuing a racist agenda.

"Today the White House released a hateful proposal that would slash legal immigration to levels not seen since the racial quotas of the 1920s, eliminate legal channels for African immigrants, and spend $25BIL for a wasteful border wall + increase in Border Patrol and ICE agents," the ACLU tweeted.

"Stephen Miller [Trump's domestic policy adviser] has said that his proposal is 'extremely generous,' but the only community that benefits from this supposed generosity are white supremacists," the group added.

The White House is proposing a path to citizenship for 1.8 million immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children, much more than the 700,000 or so that used President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

But in exchange, Trump wants $25 billion for border security and the wall, and wants to end chain migration and the diversity visa lottery.

While the Right called Trump's plan a starting point, other groups on the Left rejected it.

"President Trump and Stephen Miller are exploiting a crisis that they created, so they can take a wrecking ball to the Statue of Liberty," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice.

"They think that by offering up a spoonful of sugar – relief for Dreamers – they can get Congress and the American people to swallow the bitter medicine of radical nativism," he said. "We are going to fight this tooth and nail. We are not going to stand by while Trump and Miller take Dreamers hostage in order to keep out and kick out millions."

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., a fierce opponent of Republicans on immigration, said Trump's plan is a virtual middle finger to Latin America.

"It would be far cheaper to erect a 50-foot concrete statue of a middle finger and point it towards Latin America," he tweeted. "Both a wall and the statue would be equally offensive and equally ineffective and both would express Trump's deeply held suspicion of Latinos."

And Greisa Martinez Rosas, advocacy director for United We Dream, called it a "white supremacist ransom note."

"Members of Congress of conscience must make the moral choice to reject this white supremacist proposal and pass legislation that protects us without harming others," Rosas said.