Trump open to 'softening' on immigration
Donald Trump — who has made his tough-on-immigration stance a key component of his campaign — said Tuesday night he would be open to an unspecified “softening” of his proposed laws.
Trump, who appeared on an immigration-themed town hall with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, was asked whether there was any part of his proposals he’d be willing to change for law-abiding citizens.
“Is there any part of the law that you might be able to change that would accommodate those people that contribute to society, have been law-abiding, have kids here, would there be any room in your mind or are you — because I know you had a meeting this week with Hispanic leaders,” Hannity asked. Over the weekend, Trump met with Hispanic advisers in New York.
“I had a meeting with great people, great Hispanic leaders. And there certainly can be a softening because we're not looking to hurt people, we want people — we have some great people in this country. We have some great, great people in this country,” Trump said.
“So but we're going to follow the laws of this country. And, you know, what people don't realize, we have very, very strong laws,” he added.
Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide
Trump did not specify what would constitute as a “softening,” but when he was asked where he stood on sending all undocumented immigrants back (Trump has previously called for a deportation force; his campaign manager over the weekend told CNN the force was “to be determined”) he said he’d do what former president George W. Bush and President Obama had done, just more aggressively.
Fact check: Trump ad twists Clinton immigration plan
“We want to follow the laws. You know, we have very strong laws. We have very strong laws in this country. And I don't know if you know, but Bush and even Obama sends people back,” Trump said. “Now we can be more aggressive in that, but we want to follow the law.”
On the second part of the town hall, which is set to air Wednesday night, Trump signaled he may be willing to work with undocumented immigrants who paid taxes, according to highlights sent out ahead of the event.
"No citizenship. Let me go a step further — they'll pay back-taxes, they have to pay taxes, there's no amnesty, as such, there's no amnesty, but we work with them," Trump said.
But there was something Trump was not willing to budge on: the wall along the Southern border.
“I think people now realize we're building the wall, it's going to happen, it's 100% simple,” Trump said when asked about people who doubted that he’d actually be able to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it.