“We ought to take care of them,” Cotton said in a telephone conversation Sunday, noting that DACA recipients arrived in this country illegally “through no fault of their own.”

“In any legislative fix, I would like to see them receive a green card,” Cotton said. At the same time, he continued, “We ought to recognize that giving them legal status has two problems. First, it creates a whole new class of people who will then be eligible for a green card and citizenship — namely, the extended family members of those who will receive legal status who can, through chain migration, get legal status themselves.”

“Second,” Cotton said, “it will encourage more illegal immigration.