Former Mexican President Vincente Fox called for the next American president to legalize the 11 million illegal immigrants residing in the U.S., in remarks made late Monday.
Fox News host Greta Van Susteren asked Fox late Monday if his country would propose a solution to its northern neighbor’s illegal immigration problem.
“Number one, you have to solve the case of this 11 million undocumented Mexicans that are working in the U.S. economy,” Fox said. “We must work together to legalize or to document that situation and that’s an act of Congress, not in the hands of Donald Trump with crazy ideas of building walls.”
Fox’s estimation of the number of Mexicans in the U.S. illegally clashes with the most recent figures from 2012, which indicate 5.9 million of the illegal population is from Mexico, according to the Pew Research Center.
The former Mexican leader admitted both nations have an illegal immigration “problem,” but stopped short of explaining what protocols Mexico could put into place to stem the flow over the border. Instead, Fox criticized the Republican front-runner’s campaign promise to finish the incomplete wall on the southern border.
Fox garnered national attention Saturday when he told CNN Trump reminded him of Adolf Hitler. He doubled down on his weekend comments Monday, saying Trump’s “retaliatory” and “egocentric” personality indicate he is a “false prophet.”
Rather than supporting Trump’s plan, Fox said a U.S. president should take the legislative route and pass comprehensive immigration reform through Congress. He did not comment on President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
