Trump's immigration plan: Deport the undocumented, 'legal status' for some Jeremy Diamond, CNN, July 29, 2015
Donald Trump, the Republican presidential hopeful who shot up to the head of the pack over his controversial comments about illegal immigrants, is finally starting to lay out an immigration policy.
Trump said Wednesday [July 29th] in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash that as president he would deport all undocumented immigrants and then allow the "good ones" to reenter the country through an "expedited process" and live in the U.S. legally, though not as citizens. "Legal status," Trump suggested. "We got to move 'em out, we're going to move 'em back in if they're really good people."
OK, at least he's talking about deportation, which is good. But what's this about letting the "good ones" reenter via an "expedited process". There should be no such "expedited process" for illegal aliens.
For a blustering candidate whose rhetoric has snatched headlines and galvanized a sizable segment of the Republican base, Trump's comments Wednesday [July 29] represent his most detailed explanation into what he would do with the estimated 11-plus million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
Trump should explain that if we started enforcing the law and cutting off magnets, many illegals would self-deport.
[Trump] had previously suggested that he favors a "merit-based system," but did not delve into his support of granting legal status, but not citizenship to undocumented immigrants he calls "the good ones."
But Trump is still a long ways from presenting a specific immigration policy platform and his explanation in Wednesday's interview shows a candidate who — despite leading in the polls a week ahead of the first primary debate — is still largely dealing in broad strokes.
That's correct. I wish somebody from our side could sit down with Trump and try to get his thoughts in order.
Trump would not say how he would locate, round up and deport the 11 million undocumented immigrants he says must go.
Once again, it's great Trump is talking about deportation. It's an important tool, but if we also use other tools, many would self-deport, as they did in the 1950s when Eisenhower (the last president who cared about the border) started serious deportations.
Instead, [Trump] deflected, saying that while it may be a task too tall for politicians, it isn't for a business mogul like himself. "Politicians aren't going to find them because they have no clue. We will find them, we will get them out," Trump said. "It's feasible if you know how to manage. Politicians don't know how to manage."
And when asked about whether he would deport undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, Trump fumbled and said, unsure, that "it's a tough situation" and "it depends."
Deport 'em all, keep the families together. Also, Trump needs to start talking about the anchor baby loophole and closing it.
Trump was unequivocal, though, that a Trump administration would immediately deport undocumented criminals living freely and in American jails. "We have a lot of bad dudes, as I said. We have a lot of really bad people here," Trump said. "I want to get the bad ones out...And by the way, they're never coming back."
That's good, as far as it goes.
But he was also unwavering in his insistence that many of the undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are positive additions to the country and should be allowed to live in the U.S. legally — of course, only after being expelled and then brought back in through Trump's "expedited process" for legal status.
Oh, here we go again. At this point in the game, ANY sort of amnesty, under whatever rubric, is bad. No amnesty!
"We have to make sure they were exemplary, they were wonderful people when they were here. They worked hard, there was no problem," he said. "We have to bring great people into this country. OK? And I want to bring — I love the idea of immigration. But it's got to be legal immigration."
No amnesty, Donald, and legal immigration must be shut down as well.
