Donald Trump held a press conference in Hanahan, South Carolina on Monday afternoon in which he said DREAMers should take a back seat to children of parents born in the United States.

After spending of a majority of his 45-minute session scolding Ted Cruz and insinuating former President George W. Bush caused the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Republican presidential front-runner was asked about President Barack Obama's deferred action on immigration keeping several hundreds of thousands of undocumented youths, or DREAMers, from deportation.

Trump initially said "it's great" before delineating how DREAMers receive an unfair advantage over U.S. citizens.
"I want dreamers to come from the United States. I want the people in the United States that have children, I want them to have dreams also," Trump said. "We're always talking about dreamers for other people. I want the children that are growing up in the United States to be dreamers also. They're not dreaming right now."

Though he didn't link Latino and African-Americans, Trump implied educating one group is more important. Trump segued into a 58-percent unemployment rate among African-American youth and said Obama did little to resolve it.

"You look at African-Americans in their 30-years-old and 40-years old and we have an African-American president and he has not done anything for African-Americans in this country," he said, adding that Obama "got a free pass and he shouldn't have."

Trump Supported DREAMers

 

In 2013, Trump hosted three DREAMers at his New York City penthouse. The young activists' said Trump appeared to have a change-of-heart after the meeting. They made their case for birthright citizenship and tried convincing the real estate mogul to soften his stance on a Senate immigration bill he considered "a death wish."

"He really listened and asked thoughtful questions," said Jose Machado, member of immigration advocacy group The Bridge Project. "We had the opportunity to share our stories and explain why millions of Americans from California, Colorado, Texas, Florida and New York (to name a few states) have come out to say, 'We need to find a solution to our broken immigration system.'"

Trump's final message to the undocumented students was: "You convinced me."

Building a Wall at Mexico's Expense

Aside from revoking the 14th Amendment and deporting some 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country, Trump's other pivotal immigration reform proposal centers on building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. On Monday, he reiterated the Mexican government would pay for construction.

"Of course they are," Trump said, defiantly. "We lose so much money with Mexico in terms of deficit. We have a deficit with Mexico that's so massive that they've got to pay for the well. The wall is peanuts."

Watch Trump's entire press conference below. Comments on DREAMers begin at the 38-minute mark.