Sen. Jeff Sessions defended Donald Trump Wednesday against suggestions that he supports a massive deportation force, arguing instead that the Republican nominee expects undocumented immigrants to “self-deport.”
“You go to your home country and then you apply and then you come back in with legal status,” Sessions said Wednesday on CNN. “You basically have a self-deport.”
During the vice presidential debate Tuesday, Sen. Tim Kaine accused Trump of supporting policies that would allow the government to go “door to door, business to business” and round up undocumented immigrants for removal.
In November, Trump did propose a “deportation force,” though he pledged the removals would be done “humanely.” He has since avoided talking about this and shifted his focus to the removal of criminal undocumented immigrants first.
Presented with criticism of Trump’s immigration position on Tuesday, Gov. Mike Pence said it was “nonsense” that the Republican nominee supported the use of a deportation force.
“We have a deportation force. It’s called Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Pence said.
Trump flirted with the idea of “softening” his immigration stance in early September before doubling down on his signature pledge to build a wall along the southern border. His plan today centers around the construction of the wall and involves removing criminal undocumented immigrants, then requiring the remaining undocumented immigrants to apply for legal status through the proper channels.
Sessions has served as one of Trump’s most consistent allies in Washington, as well as the inspiration for much of the thinking behind his campaign’s immigration proposal.
“We’re going to end the illegality,” the Alabama senator said Wednesday. “We’re going to assure the American people that the criminals in this country will be deported.”
“The key thing is, you cannot ask the American people to provide any kind of amnesty until you’ve assured them that the illegality is done,” he added.
