Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida, on Wednesday. Why is a major-party presidential candidate crowdsourcing his position on not just a major issue, but one that has been the defining issue of his campaign? But “we’ve got some great people in this country”.
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For more than a year, Donald Trump took the hardest line on immigration – vowing to deport 11 million illegal immigrants en masse and pillorying his GOP primary rivals as favoring “amnesty”. After indicating this week that he may support a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants living here, Trump backtracked in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Lydia Blaha, the spokeswoman for Trump’s Colorado campaign, also confirmed to CNN that Trump will not deliver a speech in Colorado on Thursday.
COOPER: So, deportation force, we’re not going to be hearing Donald Trump talking about a deportation force for 11 million undocumented? In the early 1990s, two-thirds of Americans surveyed by Pew characterized immigrants as a burden on society, but now almost two-thirds see them as a benefit.
So one of Trump’s top immigration advisers doesn’t seem to know what’s going on. Trump regularly asks his supporters at campaign rallies, to which the crowds respond, “Mexico!”
Among Trump supporters, 1 in 3 said undocumented immigrants living in the United States are not as honest and hardworking as USA citizens.
“The great majority of people that come to this country come because they have no other choice, they want to come to provide [for] their families. but the motivation – they’re not all rapists, as you know who said. these are people who are coming to provide for their families and we should show a little more respect for the fact that they’re struggling”, Bush said in a January debate.
His tune seems to have changed. “That’s what politicians do in this country, that’s what Trump is trying to do right now”, Bush said. “Except change his immigration policies”, Coulter wrote in her new tome, “In Trump We Trust“. What about that deportation force? Two-thirds of those surveyed said that undocumented immigrants are no more likely than US citizens to commit serious crimes. “I fundamentally believe that the first and foremost priority is to fix the unlawful immigration”. Her campaign says deportations would focus on immigrants “who pose a violent threat to public safety”. Clinton has been running general election ads for months.
OBAMA: Immigration advocates have railed against Obama for deporting huge numbers – more than 2.5 million in all – and dubbed him the “deporter in chief”. In 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement set a record of removing 409,000 immigrants.
TRUMP: He’s offered conflicting takes on how he’d deal with immigrants brought here illegally as children, and their parents.
The campaign says in a statement the rent hike came as the Trump team expanded from only the fifth floor to also include two additional floors. He also supports eliminating birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S.to parents who came here illegally.
Days after Trump made his pitch to African-American voters in front of an all-white MI audience, asking “What do you have to lose”, Pence did his best to follow the top of the ticket’s lead. The courts have put the more recent actions on hold.
There have been previous signs that Trump might be moderating his stance on deportations.
And then, of course, there’s the wall. He says until Mexico pays up, the USA will increase visa and border crossing fees, “impound all remittance payments” from immigrants here illegally, and possibly increase tariffs or cut foreign aid.
CLINTON: She’s called for securing US borders, but has also said the U.S.is already doing “a really good job”. In March, Clinton said increased border security staffing, new fencing and lower immigration rates have lessened the problem.
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OBAMA: In the 2008 budget year, before Obama took office, the US had about 17,000 Border Patrol agents, reflecting an increase under President George W. Bush from the 9,212 the USA had in 2000.
