President Donald Trump's immigration blueprint is a "mistake" because "this is not the way you start making a deal," the head of the Center for Immigration Studies said Friday.
"If this was supposed to be the opening gambit of a negotiation, he has conceded significant amounts of ground to the other side," Mark Krikorian, the center's executive director, told Brooke Baldwin on CNN.
"The most notable thing is the number of people that would be covered by this amnesty.
"I'm positively in favor of amnestying the people who have DACA work permits," Krikorian said. "But that's about 700,000 people, maybe a little more if you include the ones that didn't renew and let them lapse.
"But it's a fixed population. We know how many they are.
"These are people who came forward, gave us their personal information. It makes sense.
"What the president's outline would do is talk about amnestying up to 1.8 million people, more than twice as many," Krikorian said.
White House officials released an immigration framework Friday that would provide a pathway to citizenship for as many as 1.8 million "Dreamers" brought to the U.S. and children who are living here illegally.
The outline would also create a $25 billion trust fund for border security, including a wall on the southern U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump is expected to officially announce the plan on Monday.
Top Republican leaders have praised the framework, while conservatives have attacked it as evidence that Trump is reneging on a key campaign promise — and Democrats have bashed it as holding Dreamers "hostage" for a wall.
Krikorian told Baldwin that the nearly 700,000 aliens affected by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program came forward "in good faith" and should ultimately receive citizenship status — but not as many as 1.8 million.
"This is amnesty. Just admit it. Let's not play word games.
"Like any other amnesty, basically you're giving them a break. It's an act of mercy.
"People who came forward, gave their information and in good faith got work permits, lawful jobs, were hired lawfully — I'm not saying they have a legal obligation to it — but it's a prudent measure.
"You don't get flexible before you start the negotiations," Krikorian said. "It's bad negotiating."
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