WorldPosted at: Nov 9 2026 5:50PM


Trump acknowledges his aggressive deportation policies might have been 'too tough', says they could have led to GOP loss in midterms

Washington, Nov 9 (UNI) US President Donald Trump has acknowledged that his aggressive deportation policies may have been "too tough" and contributed to the Republican Party's historic losses in the midterm elections, while suggesting he could take a more conciliatory approach to immigration.
In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Trump was asked whether his immigration crackdown had cost Republicans votes.
"I think it both helped and hurt," he said, claiming he deserved an "A plus" for securing the US border and removing what he described as dangerous individuals.
However, he acknowledged that the administration had also deported people who held jobs and had lived in the country for years but committed the offence of entering the US illegally.
"Now, there is a large part of the country that think that they should be put out," Trump said. "And there's a large part of the country that think that they should be allowed to stay if they're good people, working in a landscaping company, or working in a hotel, or doing something, right? And in some cases, paying taxes."
The president subsequently described his approach as "too tough" and expressed interest in working across party lines in the next Congress, when Democrats will control both chambers.
However, his recent decision to appoint longtime adviser Stephen Miller, a hardliner on immigration, as White House chief of staff has raised questions about whether the administration intends to soften its approach.
Republican Sen Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who has previously criticised Miller's immigration positions, urged Trump to reconsider the appointment.
"It is a colossal mistake, and the last thing we need 72 hours after the a– whooping we got on Tuesday," Tillis told CNN on Friday, saying the president needed to rethink the decision.
Deportations have been a central priority of Trump's second administration, but the policy appears to have become a political liability. A July survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 39% of respondents approved of the administration's handling of immigration, down 10 percentage points from the beginning of his second term, reports The Hill.
Public criticism of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also intensified, particularly following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis earlier this year, which triggered widespread protests and criticism of federal immigration enforcement.
Although Democrats have consistently opposed Trump's immigration crackdown, concerns have also emerged among Republican lawmakers.
Sen John Cornyn of Texas warned in early October that deporting people who had lived in the country without incident for 15 or 20 years could divide public opinion.
"Once you start deporting people who have otherwise been here without incident for 15, 20 years, that's a gray zone that I think where you find a lot of division of opinion," he said.
Cornyn, who was seeking re-election, lost the Republican primary to Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton before being defeated in Tuesday's election by Democratic Sen-elect James Talarico, who had made criticism of ICE's actions a prominent part of his campaign.
"We need Immigration and Customs Enforcement in this country, but that's not what we're seeing," Talarico said at an October town hall. "What we've seen over the last year is a secret police force, and that's what we don't want in this country."
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