President Donald Trump said his administration's deportation drive may have been "too tough," acknowledging in his first television interview since the midterm elections that the crackdown cost his party politically and signaling he is open to an immigration deal with Democrats.
"I think it might be too tough, yeah," Trump told CBS's 60 Minutes in an interview recorded on Friday and broadcast on Sunday. Asked by correspondent Ross Douthat whether the policy had gone too far, Trump said he gave himself an "A+" for securing the border and "very high marks for getting the bad ones out," but added that when agents remove a woman who has worked for years as a maid, cleaner or waitress in a hotel, "it's tough."
Trump said the deportation policy was part of the reason Republicans lost control of the House and Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections. He said he believed he could reach an agreement with the new Democratic majority. "The deal would be we would work something out. And I think that's something that's actually doable," he said.
The president suggested a compromise could allow some people who have lived in the United States for 10 or 15 years to remain, including those working in landscaping and hospitality and in some cases paying taxes, while the government continues to deport people convicted of serious crimes. "Get the killers out. Get all the rough ones out. Get the drug dealers out. But let the people that are here, and in some cases here for 10 and 15 years, work a deal for them," he said.
Trump offered no specifics, and the interview included no formal policy announcement, proposed timeline or details on whether any arrangement would lead to permanent residency or citizenship. He said several Democrats had already approached him about working together on immigration, naming newly elected Democratic Senator James Talarico of Texas, and said he could work with Democrats without insulting them. Asked whether he could avoid insulting lawmakers for six months if that helped secure an agreement, he replied: "Very easily."
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer responded on social media after the interview aired, writing that "Trump says his immigration crackdown went too far" and noting that the president had just named Stephen Miller, the architect of the hard-line immigration agenda, as his new chief of staff. Miller was appointed on Friday, shortly after the interview was recorded. Democrats have said oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security will be a priority for the new Congress, which takes control in January.
