In an interview with 60 Minutes, President Trump said his administration's hardline approach to immigration enforcement around deportations may have been "too tough" in pursuing people in the country for a decade or more.
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approach → say → decade
The president spoke with 60 Minutes correspondent Ross Douthat three days after Republicans faced jarring losses in the midterm elections.
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Republicans → speak → elections
Support for the party plummeted in South Texas and other heavily Latino areas that trended toward the GOP two years ago — a reversal that many voters
Mr. Trump's immigration crackdown.
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that → plummet → crackdown
Mr. Trump said his immigration crackdown "both helped and hurt" him at the polls.
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crackdown → say → polls
He believes he "got an A+ for closing up the border," and got "very high marks for getting the bad ones out.
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he → believe → ones
"
"But I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs, that created one violation, or breaking of the law, and that was that they came into the country illegally," the president continued.
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president → hurt → country
"Now, there is a large part of the country that think that they should be put out.
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they → be → country
And there's a large part of the country that think that they should be allowed to stay if they're good people working in a landscaping company, or working in a hotel, or doing something, right? And in some cases, paying taxes."
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they → be → taxes
He continued: "So I think it was too tough."
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it → continue → ?
"A lot of people would say that it's great, but a lot of people think it's too tough," he said.
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he → say → people
The president also said he'd "love to do something on immigration" with congressional Democrats, who will control the House and Senate starting next year.
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who → say → year
IIt's unclear whether the Trump administration is planning to alter its immigration enforcement strategy.
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administration → plan → strategy
On Friday, Mr. Trump replaced White House chief of staff Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller, a hardliner who is
of the Trump administration's immigration policies.
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who → replace → policies
The president's 2024 victory was fueled partly by voters' discontent with former President Joe Biden's immigration policies, including the surge in unauthorized U.S.-Mexico border crossings.
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victory → fuel → crossings
Since Mr. Trump's return to the White House, illegal border crossings have
.
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crossings → have → House
Federal officials have also ramped up arrests and deportations in the interior of the country, with detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement charting record highs.
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detained → ramp → highs
Miller to aim for 3,000 arrests per day last year.
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Miller → aim → day
A large share of the arrestees priority is to arrest the "worst first," while warning that anybody who is in the U.S. illegally can be arrested and deported.
beyond immigration offenses.
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who → arrest → offenses
The Trump administration has long said itsAnd many of the administration's immigration tactics have drawn scrutiny, including its
, its , its and its practice of to places other than their home country.
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many → say → country
Some Republicans have pushed back, with Rep.
of South Florida that many Hispanics who voted for Mr. Trump in 2024 "feel betrayed."
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who → push → 2024
, 58% think the Trump administration's actions on immigration have gone too far.
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actions → think → immigration
Still, on the question of which party voters think is better able to handle immigration, voters trust Republicans (43%) slightly more than Democrats (41%).
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voters → think → Democrats
The administration has defended its approach, saying it is targeting public safety threats.
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it → defend → threats
The Aporia
