According to an article written about an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, the Republican presidential hopeful who sprang to the top of the presidential hopeful heap with controversial comments about illegal immigration, is now beginning to lay out his ideas for an immigration policy.
Trump said Wednesday in the interview 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. Illegal immigration from all countries is one of Trump’s top priorities.
“Legal status,” Trump suggested. “We got to move ’em out, we’re going to move ’em back in if they’re really good people.”
For a blustering candidate whose rhetoric has snatched headlines and galvanized a sizable segment of the Republican base, Trump’s comments on illegal immigration Wednesday represent his most detailed explanation into what he would do with the estimated 11-plus million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
In the past he had put forth the idea that he favors a “merit-based system,” but did not get into the details of any support of granting legal status, but not citizenship to undocumented immigrants he calls “the good ones.”
But Trump has a long way to go in presenting a specific illegal immigration policy platform. 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. To be fair, so are the other candidates.
Trump would not give any details about how he would locate, round up and deport the 11 million undocumented immigrants he says must go. Instead, he 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.”