Trump Debates Mass Deportation With Himself

Donald Trump said his mass deportation campaign may have cost Republicans votes in the midterm elections, acknowledging that some people see it as “too tough”. At the same time, he appointed Stephen Miller, a leading advocate of the policy, as White House chief of staff, highlighting tension between hard-line enforcement and concerns about its human and economic costs.

Trump has suggested focusing deportations on people convicted of serious crimes while considering arrangements for long-term residents who work and raise families in the US. Data cited in the article found that 73 per cent of people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in fiscal year 2026 had no criminal convictions, and 61 per cent of deportees in the first 18 months of Trump’s second term had lived in the country for more than two years. Polls also indicated public concern: 58 per cent of voters in a CBS News exit poll said enforcement had gone too far.