Maine Sen. Angus King said Donald Trump's proposal of shutting down immigration until the system is perfect would be "a terrible loss" for the United States.
"You're never going to reach perfection," the independent senator said Tuesday on CNN's "New Day" program. "If we have to wait until we are satisfied that the system is absolutely perfect, any system, then you wait forever.
"I suppose Donald Trump might say, 'That's okay,' but that would be a terrible loss for this country," he added.
King pointed out many immigrants have contributed greatly to America's success and prosperity.
"You've got the bad guys, but you've also got thousands and thousands of really good people who come into this country . . . everyone from Einstein to Donald Trump's ancestors and mine and yours came in through the immigration system," he said. "To shut everything down all of a sudden would be a terrible cost to the country."
Earlier in July, Trump expanded his blanket ban on immigrants to the U.S. to include those "from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism."
"You have many, many groups, because we're allowing these people to come into our country and destroy our country and make it unsafe for people," Trump said.
He argued the stricter immigration policies he has proposed would better protect the U.S. from terror attacks.
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