Journalist and activist Jose Antonio Vargas on Thursday tore into presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent remark that he would use a "deportation force" to send millions of undocumented immigrants out of the United States.
Trump has proposed deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants from the U.S. and building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The real estate mogul insisted on Wednesday that his plan could be executed "humanely."
"You're going to have a deportation force, and you're going to do it humanely," Trump said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "You have millions of people that are waiting in line to come into this country and they're waiting to come in legally. And I always say the wall, we're going to build the wall. It's going to be a real deal. It's going to be a real wall."
Vargas, who is an undocumented resident, vehemently objected to Trump's argument.
"The term 'deportation force' and 'humanely' don't go together," he said on Fox News' "The Kelly File" Thursday. "There are 4.5 million U.S. citizen kids in this country, who [have] at least one parent who's undocumented. How is that 'humanely' to those U.S. American children?"
Watch the clip above.
"Don't Republicans believe in small government?" Vargas continued. "If you believe in a small government, why would you want to create a large -- another large bureaucratic system to deport 11 million people?"
During Tuesday's GOP primary debate, Trump cited an Eisenhower-era immigration policy known as "Operation Wetback" to show that his plan is achievable. Operation Wetback led to the inhumane deportation of at least 1 million people to Mexico, including U.S. citizens.
Vargas added that while Trump is pandering to hard-liners in the Republican Party, most Americans do not agree with his plan.
"Poll after poll has shown, by the way, that a majority of the American public want us to stay, and be given some sort of a path to legalization," he said.
H/T Media Matters