Sen. Harris Calls Trump's Immigration Policies 'Outrageous'

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — California State Senator Kamala Harris says President Trump's immigration policies are extreme and outrageous.

Harris held a discussion on immigration in Chinatown Wednesday.

"As a prosecutor, I can tell you, it is a serious mistake for us to conflate criminal justice policy with immigration policy as though they are the same," Harris said.

A mother at the meeting who says her son was killed by an illegal alien said "shame on her."

"They don't pay taxes, we pay for their medical we pay for their schooling,"  the woman said. "How about us? It would be very cost-effective to remove them all. We need to take care of our own."

Harris says its outrageous for ICE to act if someone is only charged with a crime, or suspected of a crime.

The senator heard from many community members and plans to take the information back to Washington next month.

CHRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles) says it will cost $285 billion to deport about nine million people over five years.

"We are living in  a period where racism, xenophobia and hatred is the policy of the day coming from Washington, D.C.," Marielena Hincapie, of the National Immigration Law Center, said

Meanwhile, Senator Harris says immigrants contribute to this country in a big way. She said 44 percent of the Fortune 500 firms were founded by immigrants or children of immigrants.