Donald Trump’s
campaign and his supporters were challenged again Sunday to explain the
candidate’s evolving illegal immigration policy but appeared to find solid
ground in arguing it was the opposite of Hillary Clinton’s plan.
“There are
very few issues where they're more different,” Trump campaign manager Kellyanne
Conway told “Fox News Sunday.” “In fact, Hillary Clinton is to the left of
Barack Obama on immigration.”
Trump won the
GOP primary largely by appealing to the party’s conservative base with vows to
deport all of the country’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, as well as
to build a wall along the southern U.S. border and have Mexico pay for the
construction.
However, Trump
has appearned in recent weeks to search for a less severe approach, knowing
that he’ll need some support from Hispanic and other minority voters to win the
general election race against Clinton, the Democratic presidential
nominee.
On Sunday
night, Trump tweeted that he will be making a speech on illegal immigration on
Wednesday in Arizona.
I will be making a major speech on ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION on
Wednesday in the GREAT State of Arizona. Big crowds, looking for a larger
venue.
— Donald J.
Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August
28, 2016
But she made clear that Trump
still intends to build the wall and that he supports neither amnesty nor
legalization for people who entered the country illegally.
“We all learned in
kindergarten to stand in line, to wait our turn,” said Conway, who argued Trump
has stopped talking about a deportation “force” to remove people.
“Give Donald Trump credit for
at least trying to address a complex issue and not pretending like Hillary
Clinton does, that we don't have these problems,” she said.
The Real Clear Politics
average of recent polls shows Clinton leading Trump by 6 percentage points.
Such polls also indicate Clinton is ahead in some of the most competitive and
pivotal states, with 72 days remaining before Election Day. The nominees’ first
presidential debate is set for Sept. 26.
“The real issue is look at the
two plans,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told NBC’s
“Meet the Press." “Look at where Hillary Clinton is. She wants to put
Barack Obama's immigration plan on steroids. The issue is that this is an
election of choices: One, allow everyone in through complete amnesty, or number
two, a tough plan that's fair and humane.”
The Clinton campaign argues
that Trump’s plan remains as “dangerous” as before, despite efforts to make it
seem different.
“He may try to disguise his
plans by throwing in words like ‘humane’ or ‘fair,' " said campaign
spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri. “But the reality remains that Trump’s agenda
echoes the extreme right’s will -- one that is fueling a dangerous movement of
hatred across the country.”
GOP vice-presidential nominee
Mike Pence said Sunday the main tenets of Trump's immigration plan will include
building the wall, no path to legalization or citizenship and stronger border
enforcement.
The Indiana governor also
sought to distinguish Trump’s position from Clinton’s.
“It is going to be fair. It is
going to be tough,” Pence told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He has said that
very consistently -- the contrast with Hillary Clinton, who supports amnesty,
open borders, who wants to implement executive amnesty again on Day One, even
though the Supreme Court of the United States rejected it.”
He also suggested Trump will
announce a more well-defined policy soon.
However, Pence did not answer
questions on whether the campaign’s position, as Trump has said, is that
children born to people who are in the U.S. illegally are not U.S. citizens.
Native-born children of
immigrants, even those living illegally in the U.S., have been automatically
considered American citizens since the adoption of the 14th Amendment in 1868.
Pence also could not
definitively say whether Trump was sticking with his vow to remove those living
in the U.S. illegally, with the help of a deportation force.
“What you heard him describe
there, in his usual plainspoken, American way, was a mechanism, not a policy,"
the nominee said.
Trump has focused lately on
deporting people who are in the U.S. illegally and who have committed crimes.
But who Trump considers a criminal also remained unclear Sunday.
Pressed on the question,
Priebus replied: "I just don't speak for Donald Trump."
Fox News
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