President Donald Trump said his deportation push went too far. Then, in the same breath, he said the border stays closed and there will be no amnesty.
That is the honest tension in what he said, and conservatives should look at both halves, not just the one they like.
In a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday, Nov. 8, Trump told correspondent Ross Douthat that his mass deportation campaign may have cost Republicans in last week’s midterm elections. “I think it might be too tough,” he said. “I think ultimately that hurt me.”
He pointed in particular to immigrants who have been in the country for ten years or more without committing serious crimes, people with good jobs who pay taxes. He named people working for a landscaping company or a hotel, and said taking them out of the country is tough.
At the same time, Trump gave himself what he called an A+ for closing the border. He repeated his claim that many who crossed under President Joe Biden came from prisons and mental institutions. That is Trump’s claim, not an established fact.
No policy has changed
Here is the part that matters most. A remark is not a memo. No written enforcement rule has changed, and the White House has announced no new policy.
On Monday, Nov. 9, Trump told reporters at the White House, “We have a very strong deportation policy. There’s no amnesty, no anything. We keep that, but we focus on the worst of the worst.” He also said he is working with groups to deal with working immigrants.
And on the same day he sat for the “60 Minutes” interview, Trump named Stephen Miller, the main architect of his immigration crackdown, as his new chief of staff. Miller is an immigration hawk, and his promotion sends a very different signal than the interview did.
What conservatives should want
Here is the thing. Loyalty is to conservative principles, not to any one person, and that includes Trump. Conservatives want real borders. A secure border and the removal of criminals and recent illegal crossers are not negotiable. That is the core of the policy, and Trump says it stays.
But there is a real question underneath the politics. Data cited in reporting shows most people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in fiscal year 2026 had no criminal convictions. One analysis put it at 73 percent. In a CBS News exit poll last week, 58 percent of voters said enforcement had been too forceful.
Trump said he would love to do something on immigration with Democrats, who will control both chambers next year. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said the system must be overhauled, but without giving another dime to what he called Trump’s violent mass deportation machine. That is not a starting point for a deal. It is a starting point for a fight.
Conservatives should hold two ideas at once. Keep the border closed, keep removing the worst of the worst, and do not apologize for that. And ask a straight question about whether longtime workers with no criminal record are really the priority. That is not weakness. That is knowing what you are trying to protect.
Sources:
- USA Today, ‘Too tough’: Trump floats immigration deal, says issue ‘hurt’ him
- CNN, Trump’s regrets on immigration enforcement, and other takeaways from his ’60 Minutes’ interview
- Reason, Trump questions mass deportation as Stephen Miller takes bigger role
- USA Today, House Dems support immigration fix but not Trump ‘deportation machine’