Trump touts new legal path for "great" undocumented people
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President Trump arrives back at the White House on Sunday after a weekend in Florida. Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
President Trump pitched a path to legal status for "great people" who are undocumented immigrants in an interview with Fox Noticias on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Trump's informal proposal would help create a pathway to living in the U.S. legally for people who self-deport and have an employer supporting their return.
- The idea was also recently floated at a Cabinet meeting, but it's a sharp pivot from Trump's campaign promises for "mass deportation now" and from the rhetoric and policies his administration has embraced.
Driving the news: "We're going to give them a stipend, we're going to give them some money and a plane ticket, and then we're going to work with them if they're good," Trump told Fox Noticias' Rachel Campos-Duffy.
- "We're going to work with them to get them back as quickly as we can."
- While Trump said details are still being planned for the program, he wants to make it "comfortable" for people.
- "We want our great people to stay," he said.
Between the lines: The approach could also help industries like farming and hospitality, the president said. Employers could be partly responsible for supporting an immigrant's return.
- "Right now we're getting the murderers out, we have our total aim on the very bad ones. As you can imagine, we have some great people that came in, but we have some very bad ones," the president said.
Zoom in: Trump also said that from a "practical standpoint" immigration enforcement should be carried out differently for those who entered during President Biden's administration because those migrants received inadequate vetting.
- In response to an audience-submitted question from a Mexican migrant characterized as a hard-working family man who has been living in the U.S. undocumented for 20 years, Trump said, "This is a guy we want to keep."
Yes, but: While the administration says its enforcement efforts prioritize immigrants with criminal records and final removal orders, Border Czar Tom Homan has said that there will be "collateral arrests," meaning some immigrants without criminal backgrounds could also be detained.
Go deeper: The case of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador
