Donald Trump’s plans for a “deportation force” to round up the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country always seemed far-fetched. Now it looks like the candidate may be starting to walk away from it, while also hinting he could be open to legalizing at least some of those who are in the country without the proper papers. Trump’s new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, refused to say during a CNN interview whether the presidential candidate was still planning to set up a deportation force. “To be determined,” Conway said.
In an effort to clarify Trump’s immigration stance, Conway avoided getting into too many specifics about what the candidate’s plans could be if he reaches the White House. “What he supports is to make sure we enforce the law, that we are respectful of those Americans who are looking for jobs, and that we are fair and humane to those who live among us,” she said on CNN’s State of the Union.
Conway was repeatedly asked about immigration after both Univision and BuzzFeed reported that Trump sounded like someone who could be open to legalize some of the undocumented immigrants who are already in the country at a meeting with Hispanic leaders on Saturday. “He said people who are here is the toughest part of the immigration debate, that it must be something that respects border security but deals with this in a humane and efficient manner,” said an immigration lawyer who took part in the meeting with Trump’s Hispanic advisory council.
Univision says Trump will be presenting an immigration plan on Thursday “that will include finding a way to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants.” Even though Trump never actually uttered the word “legalization” during the Saturday meeting, BuzzFeed claims “sources in the room said they feel it is the direction the campaign is going.”
The Trump campaign immediately disputed that characterizations of the talk, adding that the candidate didn’t say anything at the meeting “that he hasn’t said many times before.” A senior RNC official also disputed the reports, telling Breitbart that Trump “gave zero indication” that he was open to legalization of undocumented immigrants. Conway continued with that line on CNN, emphasizing that what Trump said at the meeting “varied little from what he has said publicly.”
Although he has repeatedly called for deporting the country’s undocumented immigrants, Trump also told Bloomberg in June that he would not say “mass deportations” are part of his immigration plan. “We are going to get rid of a lot of bad dudes who are here,” he said.
This talk of a possible shift in Trump’s immigration plans comes mere days after the candidate released his first national election television ad that focused on the importance of border security. “Terrorists and dangerous criminals kept out, the border secure, our families safe,” the narrator of the ad says.
