Bernie Sanders: 'Not appropriate' to deport illegal immigrants who skip court

Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) claimed on CBS News' "Face The Nation" over the weekend that deporting illegal immigrants is "not appropriate," even for those who do not follow the asylum process.

"There are ICE raids set to start Sunday morning. Estimates of some 2000 people or so who will be targeted, is this appropriate?" host Margaret Brennan asked.

"No, it's not. It is absolutely not appropriate," Sanders replied.

"But specifically on this point the 2,000 that are supposed to be targeted haven't shown up for a court date so essentially they're not following the asylum process, the legal standards when they're here," Brennan followed up. "So should they be prosecuted, should they be deported?"

"I don't like this deportation thing at all and I think Trump uses this as a beginning to do worse things to come," Sanders said.

Bernie Sanders Says It Is Not “Appropriate" To Deport Illegal Immigrants Not Following Law In The USwww.youtube.com

The interview was taped before President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he delayed the planned ICE raids for two weeks.

Trump said he delayed the raids to allow lawmakers to work on a bipartisan solution to the growing immigration problem, but reports suggested the raids had to be delayed because government leaks put immigration authorities at risk.

Acting ICE director Mark Morgan confirmed leaks, which were widely disseminated by media, contributed to the delay. Reports suggested that acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan was the source of the leaks, flying last week to the border on a government plane with the Washington Post reporter who broke the story about the raids.

The government had planned to target approximately 2,000 illegal immigrants across 10 U.S. cities in raids Sunday morning.