President Donald Trump conceded that his deportation policy went “too tough” and cost Republicans at the ballot box. This is a striking retreat from a signature issue after his party’s midterm drubbing. The admission came during a CBS 60 Minutes interview that aired on Sunday.
What Donald Trump told 60 Minutes about immigration and the election
Donald Trump told correspondent Ross Douthat that his immigration record cut both ways for Republicans in Tuesday’s elections. “I think it both helped and hurt,” the president said. “I think I got an A plus for closing up the border. I get very high marks for getting the bad ones out, but I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs that created one violation for breaking of the law, that was what they came into the country illegally.” He then characterized his own deportation policy as: “I think it was too tough.”
The president also said he would “love to do something on immigration” with congressional Democrats once they take control of both chambers, though he offered no plan. However, the White House struck a different note the same day. A spokeswoman told the BBC the administration “will not slow down its efforts to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens who terrorise our communities.” A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson added that ICE is “NOT backing away or slowing down.”
Trump’s own personnel moves reinforce that message. On Friday, he named Stephen Miller, long the architect of his hardline immigration agenda, as White House chief of staff. Additionally, Vice President JD Vance had motioned openness to adjusting enforcement after the losses, writing that he was “open to the idea that we should change enforcement – by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labour, for instance.”
After all, voters ranked immigration third among their priorities, behind the economy and democracy, according to election day polling. In Texas, a swing of Latino voters toward Democrats helped the party with landslide congressional majorities. Trump’s deportation policy, once his strongest applause line, now stands as one of his heaviest political liabilities.
