House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday that it was “not in our nation’s interest” to expel the roughly 800,000 young people protected from deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

“I do believe that kicking these 800,000 kids out to countries that they have probably not been to since they were toddlers, countries that speak languages that they may not even know, is not in our nation’s interest,” Ryan said.

The Wisconsin Republican said President Trump was right to phase out the program, which helped young immigrants living in the US who were brought into the country as children.

He said that he wanted the White House to provide time for a legislative fix because he didn’t want the program “to be rescinded on Day One and create chaos.”

Trump has announced that he’ll dismantle the Obama administration’s program in six months, and Ryan said that window should give time for Congress to act.

With AP