President Donald Trump said in a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday, Nov. 8, that his deportation policy “might be too tough,” according to a CBS News transcript. Multiple U.S. officials told CBS News the same day that immigration agencies have received no instructions to reduce enforcement since the midterm elections.
Related: Trump Names Stephen Miller Chief of Staff as Susie Wiles Leaves After Midterm Losses.
What Trump said
Trump told correspondent Ross Douthat that the immigration crackdown “both helped and hurt” him at the polls, CBS News reported. The interview was recorded Friday, NBC News reported.
Trump said he deserved “an A+” for closing the border, according to the transcript. He said the political damage came from removing people whose only violation was entering the country illegally.
“But I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs,” Trump said, according to the transcript. Asked directly whether the policy had gone too far, he said, “I think it might be too tough, yeah.”
Trump said he would “love to do something on immigration” with congressional Democrats, CBS News reported. He said yes when asked whether a deal could create legal status for undocumented workers, NBC News reported.
He also said people “on the sort of pretty far right” want everyone removed. NBC News reported he said some of those people work in his administration.
What officials said is happening at ICE
Officials at the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have not received instructions to reduce enforcement since the election, sources told CBS News. Those sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
ICE officials were told in recent weeks to try to carry out around 19,000 arrests a week, or about 2,700 a day, agency sources told CBS News. The earlier target was 2,000 arrests a day, according to CBS News. The new target was set before the midterms. The figures come from unnamed agency sources and are unconfirmed.
Asked whether the midterms would bring a pullback, one official told CBS News, “I would count on the opposite,” citing Stephen Miller’s promotion to chief of staff.
“This administration will not slow down its efforts to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens who terrorize our communities,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told CBS News. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Sunday that ICE would not be “backing away or slowing down.”
Miller’s role
Trump named Miller to replace Susie Wiles as chief of staff on Friday, CBS News reported. CBS News described Miller as a hardliner widely viewed as an architect of the administration’s immigration policies. Miller pushed ICE last year to aim for 3,000 arrests a day, according to CBS News.
CBS News reported it was unclear whether the administration plans to change its enforcement strategy. A large share of those arrested have no criminal records beyond immigration offenses, CBS News reported. The administration has said it is targeting public safety threats.
What voters said and what Democrats can do
In exit polling, 58% of voters said the administration’s actions on immigration had gone too far, CBS News reported. Voters still trusted Republicans slightly more than Democrats on the issue, 43% to 41%.
Sources told CBS News the administration believes the losses were driven mainly by the economy, affordability and the war with Iran.
Democrats take control of both chambers in January. Theresa Cardinal Brown, a former Homeland Security official in the Obama and Bush administrations, told CBS News she expects subpoenas, oversight hearings and efforts to limit enforcement funds. She also said Trump would likely veto attempts to restrict ICE, and she noted the agency received $75 billion through 2029.
Follow developments on our Trump presidency tracker and the Congress Tracker. More coverage is on our Politics & Government page.
Sources
- CBS News: Trump says his deportation policy might have been “too tough” in 60 Minutes interview
- CBS News: Full transcript of Ross Douthat’s interview with President Trump
- CBS News: ICE unlikely to scale back crackdown, sources say, citing Stephen Miller’s promotion
- NBC News: Trump says deportations were ‘too tough’ and hurt him during the midterms
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