US homeland security chief calls Trump's Muslim immigration ban 'overly simplistic' and 'counterproductive'

US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Tuesday blasted Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US in light of the terror attack in Orlando.

Johnson told ABC's "Good Morning America" that such a ban would be "counterproductive."

"Overly simplistic suggestions that we ban people from entering this country based on religion or ban people from an entire region of the world is counterproductive," Johnson said. "It will not work."

Johnson emphasized that the US needs to "build bridges" to Muslim communities. US officials have emphasized in the past that the government should not alienate Muslims because they're often the first line of defense against terror attacks since they can tip off authorities when they suspect someone has become radicalized.

"We need to build bridges to communities, to American Muslim communities right now, to encourage them to help us in our homeland security efforts," Johnson said.

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, renewed calls for a ban on Muslim immigration during a campaign speech in New Hampshire on Monday.

"The only reason the killer was in America in the first place is because we allowed his parents to come here," Trump said. "That is a fact, and it's a fact we need to talk about."

The gunman in the Orlando shooting was a US citizen born in New York whose parents were from Afghanistan. He killed 49 people at a LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando early Sunday.

Watch Johnson's comments below: