From PolitiFact · Amy Sherman · · 4m
Trump's immigration promises: where they stand
After midterm losses, Trump says he was too tough on immigration. But his new chief of staff Stephen Miller suggests the crackdown will continue.
In brief
After midterm losses, Trump says he was too tough on immigration. But his new chief of staff Stephen Miller suggests the crackdown will continue. Trump acknowledged his immigration crackdown may have cost Republicans the midterms but promoted hardliner Stephen Miller as chief of staff, signalling no retreat from mass…
Trump admits immigration crackdown cost votes
In his first post-midterm interview on CBS News sixty minutes, Trump said his immigration agenda both helped and hurt Republicans. He acknowledged removing people with good jobs in landscaping and hotels damaged the party.
“I think it both helped and hurt”
Trump claims success on border enforcement
Trump told CBS he got an A plus for closing the border and very high marks for getting the bad ones out. He said some deported immigrants had paid taxes.
“I get very high marks for getting the bad ones out”
Trump signals openness to immigration deal
Trump said he had been too tough on immigration and would work out an immigration deal with Democrats. He provided no details about what such a deal would include.
Mullin floats legal pathway for DACA recipients
After the November third election, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin suggested working with Congress on a legal pathway for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children under DACA.
Trump rejects amnesty for undocumented immigrants
On November ninth, Trump told reporters we're not going to have amnesty or anything for immigrants illegally in the country, contradicting any suggestion of a softer approach.
“we're not going to have amnesty or anything”
Stephen Miller promoted to chief of staff
Trump promoted Stephen Miller, his former deputy chief of staff, to chief of staff. Miller led Trump's first-term hard-line immigration agenda, supporting family separation and Muslim-majority country travel bans.
Miller pushed for mass arrests of immigrants
During Trump's second term, Miller has been a leading architect of immigration strategy and pushed the administration to arrest at least three thousand immigrants a day.
Experts doubt enforcement will ease
Immigration experts say Miller's promotion signals no retreat from mass deportation. Tom K. Wong of the University of California, San Diego, said the president's remarks seem like political messaging rather than policy change.
“Promoting Stephen Miller hardly signals a retreat from the administration's mass deportation agenda”
Largest deportation operation in progress
The Department of Homeland Security said that as of October, the administration had deported about one point two million immigrants during Trump's second term. Experts say it's hard to independently verify the scale.
Deportation data shows monthly record arrests
The Deportation Data Project at UCLA and UC Berkeley obtained ICE data showing the agency arrested and detained about forty two thousand people in July, a monthly record during this term.
Many deported had lived in U.S. over a decade
A substantial proportion of people arrested within the country are those who lived in the U.S. for more than a decade, said Elizabeth Cohen, a Boston University political science professor.
Border wall construction continues
From late January twenty twenty five through October thirty, U.S. Customs and Border Protection completed approximately three hundred thirty miles of new border barriers, including one hundred thirty nine point five miles of primary wall.
Supreme Court allows Big Bend wall construction
On November ninth, the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration can continue border wall construction in the Big Bend region of Southwest Texas. It lifted a district judge's order from October that halted construction.
Haitian TPS revocation underway
In a six three vote in June, the Supreme Court paved the way for the administration to revoke Haiti's Temporary Protected Status designation.
Travel ban expanded to nineteen countries
Trump resurrected his first-term travel ban in his second term and expanded it to nineteen countries. The Supreme Court previously ruled the president can issue a travel ban under certain circumstances.
Remain in Mexico program blocked by court
Trump signed an executive order in January twenty twenty five to reinstate the Remain in Mexico program. On October seventh, a federal court ruled the program's implementation is unlawful. The Trump administration has not appealed.
Voter citizenship bill stalls in Senate
Trump lobbied for the SAVE America Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote.It passed the House in February but stalled in the Senate.
The big picture
Trump acknowledged his immigration crackdown may have cost Republicans the midterms but promoted hardliner Stephen Miller as chief of staff, signalling no retreat from mass deportation.
