President Trump told “60 Minutes” that his deportation policy “might be too tough” and that he’d like to cut an immigration deal with the new Democratic Congress. An hour after the taping, he made Stephen Miller — the architect of that policy — his chief of staff.
Why it matters
For millions of immigrant families, including Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking households with pending asylum or parole cases, this is the first time the president has publicly conceded that the crackdown swept up the wrong people. But words on Sunday-night TV are not policy, and every signal from inside the government points the other way.
What he said
Asked by Ross Douthat whether immigration hurt Republicans on Nov. 3, Trump said: “I think it both helped and hurt. I think I got an A-plus for closing up the border.” The damage, he said, came because “we also took people that had good jobs” whose only violation was entering illegally.
Then: “I think it was too tough.” Pressed, he added: “I think it might be too tough, yeah.”
He described a hotel worker — “a maid, a cleaner… a waitress” — suddenly removed from the country: “It’s tough.” He sketched a deal: “get the killers out… get the drug dealers out,” but for people here “ten and 15 years, work a deal for them.” He said Democrats “have already called me.” Asked whether people who want “everybody taken out” work in his administration, he said: “Yes.”
A year ago, the BBC notes, Trump told the same program his raids “haven’t gone far enough.”
Between the lines
CBS itself flagged the contradiction on air: “The first change came an hour after our conversation” — Susie Wiles out, Stephen Miller in.
Multiple U.S. officials told CBS News that DHS and ICE have received no instructions to scale back. ICE’s target, set before the midterms, is about 19,000 arrests a week — roughly 2,700 a day, up from 2,000. One official, asked about a pullback: “I would count on the opposite.”
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told CBS the administration “will not slow down.” A DHS spokesperson told the BBC: “ICE is NOT backing away or slowing down.”
CBS cites exit polls showing 58% of voters said the crackdown had “gone too far.” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called Miller a “dangerous xenophobe,” per The Hill’s headline.
The money
Former DHS official Theresa Cardinal Brown reminded CBS that ICE has $75 billion through 2029 under last year’s tax-and-spending law. “They have the money. They have the resources.” Democrats can subpoena and hold hearings starting in January; Trump can veto limits on enforcement.
What’s next
Watch December arrest numbers, and whether anyone puts actual bill text behind the word “deal.” Until then, nothing changes for people with open cases: deadlines, check-ins and paperwork stand.
Our view
We think the most revealing line wasn’t “too tough” — it was “both helped and hurt.” Trump wants credit for the border and distance from the raids at the same time. The irony is that, sixty minutes later, he handed the building to the one man who never thought the raids went too far. Two policies now coexist: one for television, one for arrest quotas.
FAQ
Did Trump end mass deportations? No. Officials told CBS no new instructions have been issued.
What deal is he proposing? No details or bill exist yet — only the outline he gave on air.
Why does Miller matter? He designed the hardest-line measures in both Trump terms; officials read his promotion as a sign the crackdown continues.
Read also
- Stephen Miller named White House chief of staff
- Deportations after the midterms: Mullin, ICE and Democrats
- Trump’s cabinet shake-up and the “60 Minutes” tease
Sergey Danilov
.jpg){kind=link}
Leave a Reply