Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Thursday ripped President Donald Trump's plans for illegal Dreamers in his immigration framework, telling Newsmax TV that "there needs to be a sacrifice, a consequence for breaking the law."
"He's already talking about a path to citizenship and he hasn't even negotiated yet in earnest," DeLay, the former Texas Republican who served as majority leader from 2003 to 2005, told John Bachman on "America Talks Live" in an interview.
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"I hope he takes a look at this from a different perspective.
"I hope he looks at it as, number one, the most important thing is to get the wall, chain migration, and visa lottery out of the way.
"Then, he's willing to negotiate on DACA," DeLay said, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
"What these DACA people need to understand is they broke the law. They are still breaking the law even though now they're adults.
"They broke the law through no fault of their own," he explained to Bachman. "Their parents brought them over, but they still broke the law.
"You just can't give them amnesty, because that sends a horrible message to those who want to come here illegally."
DeLay suggested that Dreamers should be returned to their native countries but given work permits to return to the United States.
"Now that we know who they are, they must pay a fine of some sort for breaking the law," he said.
"They need to understand that they are breaking the law — and we are going to try to treat them humanely, but they need to pay a fine.
"There needs to be a sacrifice, a consequence for breaking the law," DeLay said. "Just handing over a path to citizenship is amnesty.
"It's the worst thing we can do."
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