Trump vows to remove millions living in country illegally
PHOENIX — Seeking to end confusion over his aggressive but recently muddled language on immigration, Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to remove millions of people living in the country illegally if he becomes president, warning that failure to do so would jeopardize the “well-being of the American people.”
Yet the Republican presidential nominee failed to outline what he would do with those who have not committed crimes beyond their immigration offences — a sharp retreat after promises during his primary campaign to create a “deportation force” to remove the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally.
Trump instead repeated the standard Republican talking point that only after securing the border can a discussion begin to take place about what to do about those who remain, ducking the major question that has frustrated past congressional attempts at remaking the nation’s immigration laws.
Yet the fiery speech was filled with applause lines for Trump’s loyal supporters, including his insistence that immigrants in the country without permission who wish to seek legal status or citizenship must return to their home countries in order to do so.