Trump Campaign Sends Mixed Signals on Immigration Plan
August 22 2016 - 2:20AM
Dow Jones News
Donald Trump's campaign suggested Sunday that the Republican
presidential candidate is prepared to soften his stance on
immigration, though the signal was ambiguous.
Mr. Trump has made a tough stand on immigration a signature
issue of his campaign, pledging among other things to create a
"deportation force" to rapidly remove some of the country's
estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants.
On Sunday, his new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, dialed
back on that pledge, suggesting the deportation force might not be
set up after all. Asked on CNN if Mr. Trump would mobilize this
deportation force in the White House, Ms. Conway responded: "To be
determined."
She added: "What he supports is to ensure that we respect the
law. He will lay out the specifics of that plan."
Others in the campaign, though, suggested there would be no
backtracking on Mr. Trump's proposals to significantly tighten
immigration policies.
Mr. Trump tried this past week to reach out to minority groups,
in part by holding a meeting on Saturday with his Hispanic Advisory
Council at Trump Tower in New York. Mr. Trump has angered many
Hispanic leaders during the campaign, due to his comments about
Hispanic immigrants being "rapists" and his plan to build a wall
between the U.S. and Mexico.
The meeting produced a tangle of reports that indicated Mr.
Trump told the gathering that he was open to changing his view. A
Republican National Committee representative at the Saturday
session said Mr. Trump gave no indication he would support
legalization for some undocumented residents.
A Trump spokesman, Steven Cheung, said the candidate's
immigration position hasn't changed. "Mr. Trump said nothing today
that he hasn't said many times before, including in his convention
speech—enforce our immigration laws, uphold the Constitution, and
be fair and humane while putting American workers first," he said
in a statement.
John Podesta, chairman of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's
campaign, said the Trump position doesn't appear to have changed,
and added that the GOP nominee's positions add up to a policy that
could hurt many families. "We believe the RNC official in the room,
the campaign's statement after the meeting and the candidate
himself that Donald Trump's immigration plan remains the same as
it's always been: tear apart families and deport 16 million people
from the United States," Mr. Podesta said in a statement.
Any retreat on immigration policies, which have been a signature
issue for Mr. Trump, could be politically risky.
On the one hand, GOP leaders have urged the campaign to soften
its rhetoric in an attempt to improve Mr. Trump's poor standing
with the rapidly growing universe of Hispanic voters, who will make
up an estimated 12% of eligible voters this year.
But Mr. Trump's fervent backers are counting on a continued
tough line on immigration. At his rallies, they frequently break
into chants of "build the wall" to underscore his promise to build
a wall to keep immigrants from Mexico and Central America out of
the U.S. They may grant Mr. Trump some leeway, given that his
longstanding stance as a fighter against illegal immigration, but
also could be upset with any move to cater to other voters by
softening the message.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, a key Trump adviser, was asked on Sunday
whether the candidate still planned to quickly deport the 11
million people if he won the White House.
The Alabama Republican, speaking on CBS, was noncommittal. "What
I'm certain about is that he did not make a firm commitment
yesterday, or the meeting the other day, about what he will do with
that," the senator said. "But he did listen, and he's talking about
it."
Mr. Sessions emphasized that Mr. Trump isn't backing off his
plan for "extreme vetting," or ideological assessments, for those
coming into the U.S.
"The American people clearly support the idea that if you can't
vet somebody from a dangerous area of the globe, they should not be
brought into the U.S.," he said.
Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 22, 2016 02:05 ET (06:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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