A pro-immigration group is claiming that approximately 600,000 illegal immigrants may be eligible for a pathway to legal status, allowing them to remain in the U.S.

In a new report by Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), an organization that advocates for more legal immigration and defends illegal immigration, the group alleges that 15 percent of the 4 million illegal immigrants living in just seven southern U.S. states may be eligible for amnesty.

The amnesty for the 600,000 illegal immigrants, CLINIC says, is based on claims from the individuals that they came to the U.S. after facing persecution abroad or because they have family already living in the country.

A research who worked on the report for CLINIC told Reuters that President Donald Trump’s administration should not be deporting illegal immigrants to begin with.

“As we ramp up immigration enforcement in the United States, we should take this figure and remind ourselves that we shouldn’t deport first and then ask questions,” University of California at San Diego researcher Tom Wong said.

Wong said the number of illegal immigrants who he believes could get amnesty may be higher, as only states like Texas, Georgia, and Florida were outlined in the study.

There are approximately 11-30 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S., costing taxpayers an estimated $113 billion while also putting a strain on public hospitals, public housing, and public education systems.

Most recently, the open borders lobby has been pushing hard to end the Trump administration’s enforcement of federal immigration law.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s pro-immigration group, FWD.us, recently stated that enforcing immigration law “hurts public safety” and demanded an end to deportations, as Breitbart Texas reported.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.