Trump Says His Deportation Agenda Was ‘too Tough,’ Repeating Interest In A Deal With Dems

President Donald Trump, in an interview that aired Sunday, said his deportation policy was “too tough” and hurt Republicans with some midterm voters.

The president said he received high marks for his success in securing the border and removing criminals from the country. But he acknowledged that his policies went too far for other voters, who were frustrated by the administration’s targeting of other immigrants, particularly unauthorized immigrants working and contributing to the economy.

“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 said in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

The president’s comments are likely to further frustrate immigration hard-liners, who are increasingly concerned by his repeated expressions of willingness to work with Democrats on an immigration deal. The intraparty divide over immigration, which has simmered over the past year, has only intensified since the election.

And his remarks come as he decided to elevate Stephen Miller, the architect of the administration’s aggressive immigration policy, as his chief of staff. Many Republicans blamed Tuesday’s massive losses on Miller, as Republicans lost support among Hispanic voters in a number of key races, including in border states where voters turned out for Democrats and fueled GOP losses.

When pressed on what a deal might look like with Democrats, Trump had little detail to offer but suggested a legal pathway for immigrants who are working and paying taxes as one point of discussion. He continued to criticize the Biden administration’s border policy and said some in the Republican Party want all immigrants removed — but others, he said, want some immigrants to be allowed to remain.

“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. And there’s a large group of people [who] think that they should be allowed to stay,” he said.

“When you go into a hotel and you say, ‘Let me see your pass,’ and you have a woman that's worked there as a maid, as a cleaner, as a this, as a that, as a waitress, a lotta good things, great job, and all of a sudden, they're being taken outta the country, it's tough. It's a tough thing,” he continued.

Trump said he thought Democrats would be interested in making a deal and repeated that some had already called him. He wouldn’t say who.