“The emphasis there was on people who had criminal records, people who posed a danger, a public safety risk,” Holder, who served under former President Obama, said of the Obama administration’s policy in a CNN interview released Saturday.

“Democrats have to understand that…borders mean something,” he added.

In the interview, Holder expressed disagreement with some 2020 Democrat candidate proposals to make illegally entering the U.S. a civil rather than a criminal offense.

“No, I don’t think that’s right,” he said. “The law that is on the books has been there for about 100 years or so.”