Santorum: 'Almost everything' undocumented immigrants do is illegal

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum told supporters in Spencer, Iowa Tuesday that a young woman who was brought to the U.S. as an undocumented 6-year-old was "repeatedly breaking the law" by staying in the country.

"She came when she was probably young and she didn't consciously break the law," the candidate explained. "But she has subsequently. She has fake documents. That's illegal."

"The idea that people who were here 20 or 25 years, who came here illegally, only committed one illegal act, well that's just -- you can't be here for 20 years and only commit one illegal act because almost everything you are doing while you're here is doing things against the law."

Santorum added: "You're repeatedly breaking the law to stay in this country. So, it's not just one offense. It's a continuing offense. ... The idea that we can't break the family up, what if that mother or father that has been here 25 years went into Carol's bakery robbed the place? Would we break the family up? Yes, we would."

"This is false compassion. I don't like to break up families, but we do all the time. I look at what I'm doing. I'm out here running for president of the United States. My family is at home. We all makes sacrifices."

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates that 2.7 million undocumented children and young adults were living in the U.S. as of 2010, but it was not known how many came here to be reunited with family.

Of the roughly 12 million total undocumented immigrants, roughly half came here legally with temporary visas, according to DHS (PDF).

Watch this video from CNN, broadcast Dec. 6, 2011.