Donald Trump will determine whether some illegal immigrants living in the U.S. should be granted legal status “at a later date,” his top spokeswoman said Tuesday.
“What Mr. Trump says is that when it comes down to the end of his 10-point plan, he’ll make a further decision,” Katrina Pierson said on CNN. She said that less than 24 hours after the Republican presidential nominee said he’s “not ruling out anything” in terms of his immigration proposals during a campaign stop Monday in Ohio.
Pierson also rejected the idea that Trump leaving the door open to amnesty is a “big deal.”
“Immigration is not showing to be a top priority for Americans in this election cycle,” she said. Pierson added that Trump has shown that he first “wants to make a commitment to Americans to fulfill everything that previous administrations failed to do.”
“His governing principle is if you are in this country illegally, you need to leave and return legally,” Pierson said. “That’s been his governing principle. He’s laid out these primary initiatives one through 10, they’re on the website so that he can let Americans know are that his priorities are not to go after families.”
“His priorities are to go after the criminal aliens after they build the wall, after they catch and release, implement e-Verify and essentially eliminate all the magnets that draw illegals into this country,” she added.
Pierson was then asked to respond to the specific exchange where the candidate hinted, during an interview with ABC, that he may be open to revisiting his zero-tolerance stance on amnesty.
“Well, again, he has said from the beginning of this campaign all the way back to the primary that he was going to be a negotiator in Congress,” she said.
“There’s not enough time in his presidency to do that which is why he laid out his priorities,” she added, referring to Trump’s previous plan to deport all 11 million illegal immigrants. “And we have to come up with something at a later date to take care of that issue.”
