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Keller @ Large: Lawyer Calls For 6-Month Halt To Immigration

BOSTON (CBS) – The Orlando killer may have been born in the United States, but last weekend's massacre has put immigration issues front and center once again.

Middleton-based immigration lawyer Marisa DeFranco, who has made past runs for office as a Democrat, tells WBZ political analyst Jon Keller on Sunday's "Keller @ Large" that the U.S. needs to make a bold move on immigration to keep Americans safe.

"We are living in the most dangerous world we have ever known. The terrorists want to destroy us," she said.

DeFranco disagrees with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's plan for a temporary ban on Muslim immigration because it's "completely illogical," and she says people would lie anyway. Instead, she argues there should be a six-month moratorium on all immigration into the United States.

"Our government cannot get a handle on vetting people, whether they are terrorists or whether they are good immigrants," she said. "Six months is not too much to wait for the safety of U.S. citizens."

The temporary halt to immigration would let the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security focus on catching homegrown terrorists instead of worrying about who's entering the country, DeFranco says.

Keller and DeFranco also talked about a change that Gov. Charlie Baker has made to immigration policy in Massachusetts.

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