Trump, shifting back, now says no legal status for all 11 million illegal immigrantsSource: Washington Post
Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to shift back to some version of the hard-line immigration posture he adopted in the GOP primaries, telling CNN that he does not support a path to legal status for illegal immigrants unless they leave the country and return legally.
The comment added a new layer of confusion to the GOP presidential nominee's position on one of his signature issues. This week, Trump and his aides have softened their rhetoric on immigration, signaling an openness to legalizing many of the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants despite Trump's long-standing vow to deport them all.
In a CNN interview that aired Thursday evening, Anderson Cooper asked Trump: "So if they haven’t committed a crime, is there going to be a path to legalization? I’m not talking about citizenship."
Trump responded: "First thing we’re going to do. No is not a path — there is no path to legalization unless people leave the country. When they come back in, if they come back in, then they can start paying taxes, but there is no path to legalization unless they leave the country and come back." In seeming to shift back toward his original position, Trump acknowledged that he would not be able to easily and efficiently deport all 11 million people at once. Trump said that "bad dudes" would be deported as soon as he took office, a group he described as containing "probably millions." He did not say what would happen to the remaining immigrants, but he did say "there is a very good chance" they would eventually be deported.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/08/25/trump-shifting-back-now-says-no-legal-status-for-all-11-million-illegal-immigrants/
