A Mexican soldier patrols along the U.S. -Mexico border wall on the outskirts of Nogales, Mexico.
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Large majorities of those surveyed said they think undocumented immigrants fill jobs that US citizens do not want, are as honest and hardworking as USA citizens and are no more likely than citizens to commit serious crimes – sound rebukes of Trump’s rhetoric on immigration.
But he wouldn’t directly address whether Trump would stick with his calls during the GOP primary campaign for a “deportation force” to deport those immigrants – or, as Trump has indicated in recent days, back away from that proposal – in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union”. And, 67 percent said undocumented immigrants are no more likely than citizens to commit serious crimes.
Trump was at 2% support among African-American voters and 26% among Hispanics in a recent Pew Research poll.
“What you hear Trump describe”, said Pence, “in his usual plain-spoken American way is a mechanism not a policy”.
Such a move could help blunt criticism from figures like the head of the Democratic National Committee, who blasted Trump on Sunday for failing to reach out directly to black voters.
But does Trump still want a “deportation force” to expel all undocumented immigrants already in the United States?
Trump announced his presidential candidacy in June 2015, advocating for tighter border security, saying some Mexican immigrants were “rapists and others came to the U.S”. Pence also did not answer whether the campaign believes, as Trump has said, that children born to people who are in the US illegally are not USA citizens. “He’s changed the words that he is saying”, she said Thursday on CNN. “And I think that’s what’s really important”.
“Now there’s going to be, you know, some decisions he’s going to have to make as president regarding those folks, and I think what he’s said let’s first get all of the bad actors out of the country”, he said. “I like that type of rhetoric coming from his campaign”. “He’s not met with the mothers of children who have been slain and killed from violence in the country as Hillary Clinton has done”.
Trump has recently acknowledged there “could certainly be a softening, because we’re not looking to hurt people”.
For Trump, Saturday was about stressing that he’s not wavering on immigration – particularly when it comes to immigrants in the country illegally who have criminal records.
Instead of deporting all 11 million people living illegally in the United States as he had suggested before, he said only criminals would go.
“There will be no path to legalization, no path to citizenship”. A plurality of 45 percent said both should be given equal opportunity. Only 9 percent thought better border security alone should be the priority. They often share their students’ stories on Facebook with the hashtag #Changingtheperception. “He’s not gone to historical black colleges – Hillary Clinton (has)”.
These numbers aren’t entirely surprising, of course. He points to all of their youth who immigrated to the USA and had to cross the desert or navigate through Mexico on a freight train.
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“I know the media wants to focus on that one issue”.
