Former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, now running for Senate in Arizona, said Thursday that those protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should be deported.
"Deport them," the former sheriff said in an interview with NPR's "Morning Edition."
"When we come across these kids, or some are older than just kids," Arpaio said, "then deport them. You deport them back to the country they came from."
He added: "They can do a lot of good in those countries. They have education here and help out and be good ambassadors from the United States to their country. That's just my idea."
Arpaio compared deporting Dreamers to the Peace Corps, and implied that he would accept them returning to the U.S. legally.
When asked about deporting people to dangerous nations, he said:
"We have danger here, so should we deport all the people in Chicago with all the shooting and murder?" Arpaio asked. "If they want to get out and go to another country, should the other countries welcome them? I don't think they would."
He added that "it's unfortunate there's problems in other countries, but that's ... you live in those other countries, you have to do something there whether it's through the political system in those countries to try to alleviate the problem.
"We pumped a lot of money into these foreign countries — tons of money to help their security, law enforcement, and that's OK, but you have to do it right."
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