【2006 Archives】

When Rick Santorum came to face to face with a high-achieving female engineer006 ArchivesCNN this week, he told her to leave the country.

The woman, Elizabeth Vilchis, is an undocumented mechanical engineer who at 7 years old was brought to the U.S. by her parents. She had asked the former Republican senator a powerful question on Van Jones' CNN Special, The Messy Truth, this Tuesday.

Concerned that she might be deported under a Trump administration, she asked Santorum how she might best plan for her future. Santorum's response: She should go back to her country of birth and come back "the right way."

But the "right way" would mean she couldn't return for at least 10 years or possibly not at all, said Vilchis, who has a work permit thanks to DACA, a law that lets undocumented immigrants that came to the U.S. as minors defer deportation every two years. The immigrants are known as DREAMers.

"I stand to lose all the work that I’ve done if the new administration decides to end DACA,” Vichis said.“My career will come to an end if that program ends and I will also potentially be labeled for deportation, which means I am going to be removed form the communities that I’ve contributed to so much." It is unclear whether Trump will overturn DACA.

Vilchis said became a mechanical engineer after hearing that the country was facing a shortage of trained people in the STEM fields. She's since encouraged other students to enter the fields, as well.

CNN commentator Ana Navarro responded with outrage to Santorum's suggestion: "First of all, this is your country,” Navarro said. “No matter what he says, no matter what anybody else says, this is your country."

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