No, Donald Trump Has Not Backed Away From His Insane Immigration Proposal

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Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:05 pm

The big media hype lately is that Donald Trump has suddenly changed his position on immigration.

The new thinking is that Trump is now backing away from his plan of enlisting a mass deportation force to deal with 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country. Many pundits – liberal and conservative – are now saying his plan, instead, would mirror the one Jeb Bush put forward during his failed presidential campaign.

This is false. Trump’s unworkable and inhumane immigration proposal is still alive and well.

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In an interview set to air Thursday night on CNN, Trump makes this fact clear.

Tweet via Greg Sargent:

For all the recent talk that Trump won’t be so harsh when it comes to non-criminal undocumented immigrants, this answer should clear things up. Under Trump’s (same, unchanged) plan, 11 million undocumented immigrants – even if they aren’t dangerous criminals – will be deported.

Every other thing he has spent time talking about recently, like a path to legalization or paying back taxes, only enters the equation after the deported individual leaves the country.

So, no, Donald Trump is not changing his stance on immigration, as another Sargent tweet pointed out:

The question is not whether these immigrants would be deported under a potential President Trump – they will be. Instead, the question is how long must they wait and what is the process for them to return.

So the media can calm down about Trump’s supposed change of heart on an issue that he built his presidential candidacy on. He may not be calling Mexican immigrants “rapists” and “criminals” in public anymore, but his policy – as of today – still treats them like they are.

His tone has changed, but his policies have not – at least for the time being.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.