I
will build a border wall and deport millions of people who are in the U.S.
illegally, President-elect Donald Trump says, promising to keep his campaign
pledges on immigration in his first prolonged interview since winning the White
House.
Saying
that his administration will deport “probably 2 million” — and possibly 3
million — people who are in the country illegally, Trump told 60 Minutes’
Lesley Stahl that he wants to secure the border.
Trump
also seemed willing to consider the plan some of his fellow Republicans have
aired, of securing some parts of the border with a fence.
The
interview with Trump will air on CBS Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET; it also
includes members of his family. The interview was taped Friday at Trump’s Fifth
Avenue residence in New York City. It comes after days of anti-Trump protests
in more than a dozen American cities, where demonstrators have criticized the
incoming president’s immigration stance.
On
another campaign promise, Trump affirmed his plan to repeal and replace the
Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare.
But
Trump also wants to keep some parts of the plan. For instance, he told Stahl
that he’ll maintain coverage for people with pre-existing conditions “because
it happens to be one of the strongest assets” of the plan.
Trump
also said he wants to keep a portion of the law that covers children living
with their parents for an extended period.
As
for how the change from one sphere of coverage to another might work, Trump
promised it would be smooth, saying “We’re going to do it simultaneously. It’ll
be just fine. That’s what I do. I do a good job. You know, I mean, I know how
to do this stuff.
He
continued, “We’re going to repeal it and replace it. And we’re not going to
have, like, a two-day period and we’re not going to have a two-year period
where there’s nothing. It will be repealed and replaced. I mean, you’ll know.
And it’ll be great health care for much less money.”
Here’s
what Trump told 60 Minutes when he was asked about undocumented immigrants in
the U.S.:
“What
we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal
records — gang members, drug dealers — we have a lot of these people, probably
2 million, it could be even 3 million. We’re getting them out of our country or
we’re going to incarcerate. But we’re getting them out of our country, they’re
here illegally.
“After
the border is secured, and after everything gets normalized, we’re going to
make a determination on the people that you’re talking about — who are terrific
people, they’re terrific people. But we’re going to make a determination... but
before we make that determination, Leslie, it’s very important, we’re going to
secure our border.”
For
comparison purposes, we’ll note that in President Obama’s first term, his
administration carried out a record 1.5 million deportations — including more
than 400,000 in fiscal year 2012.
The
figure declined to 235,413 in fiscal year 2015, and as NPR’s Scott Horsley
reported this summer, the Obama administration has shifted its focus to
deporting criminals, people caught near the border, and those who recently came
to the country without securing documents.
As
Scott Horsley noted in a review of recent U.S. immigration policy, the rate of
deportations went up under Obama, just as it had under the previous two
presidents. And Trump took notice, back in August.
“What
people don’t know is that Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the
country,” Trump told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly. “Bush, the same thing. Lots of
people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, I’m going
to do the same thing.”
The
plan for a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico is Trump’s new facet in
immigration policy. Here’s his exchange with Stahl, discussing the idea:
“Are
you really going to build a wall?” Stahl asks.
“Yes,”
Trump says.
“They’re
talking about a fence in the Republican Congress. Would you accept a fence?”
“For
certain areas I would — but certain areas, a wall is more appropriate. I’m very
good at this, it’s called construction.”
“So,
part wall, part fence?
“Yeah,
it could be some fencing.”
Source: NPR News
