Donald Trump’s ’60 Minutes’ Interview Did Not Include A Statement That He Will ‘Immediately’ Deport Up To 3 Million Illegal Immigrants

Donald Trump did not say on 60 Minutes that he will immediately deport up to 3 million illegal immigrants, although numerous sources reported that he did. Trump laid out how he will approach issues with illegal immigration but said nothing that indicated deportations would begin immediately.

Among those falsely reporting this statement were many mainstream media sources, including the Washington Post and the Huffington Post.

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The Washington Post said this about Donald Trump’s statement about deportation on 60 Minutes.

“In a 60 Minutes interview scheduled to air Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to immediately deport 2 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants who ‘have criminal records’ after his inauguration next January.”

And the Huffington Post said the following.

“In an interview with CBS News that will air Sunday night, Trump said he would launch what could be the largest mass deportation effort in modern history, vowing to immediately deport a number of people comparable to the record-setting figure that President Barack Obama carried out over two terms in office.”

Both sources continued with an explanation that more accurately reflected what Trump said on 60 Minutes, which in no way indicated he would begin either imprisoning or deporting those who are here illegally immediately upon assuming office.

Immigration was a major component of the president-elect’s campaign, so his plans on the issue are something that many Americans want to more fully understand. Many are fearful about how his immigration policies will impact them, their family, or their friends. While these headlines and opening lines give the fearful reason to be afraid, Donald Trump’s actual words communicate something different. Here’s what he said on 60 Minutes.

“What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably 2 million, it could be even 3 million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate. But we’re getting them out of our country, they’re here illegally.”

The people he plans to target for deportation or incarceration are those who are committing crimes and those with a criminal record, so this should calm the fears of many. In addition, even this won’t be done immediately, according to what Donald Trump said on 60 Minutes.

Regarding timing, he said, “After the border is secure and after everything gets normalized, we’re going to make a determination on the people that they’re talking about who are terrific people, they’re terrific people but we are gonna make a determination at that. But before we make that determination… it’s very important, we are going to secure our border.”

This is not an indication of immediate deportation. It’s an indication that a deportation plan will be executed once the border is secure, and that is something that will take some time.

Many details will have to be worked out between now and when Donald Trump carries out his plan for deporting illegal immigrants. He will have to be President Trump. And he indicated on 60 Minutes that before thinking about deportation, he will secure the border.

Many are fearful about his immigration plans as well as the general climate in the U.S. once he is president because of some of the words and actions of both him and some of his supporters. That fear is valid, but this is one subject for which it seems Donald Trump has no immediate plans. And his stated intention is to target criminal, illegal immigrants when the time does come. You can watch the interview in its entirety at this link. His statements about illegal immigration and deportation are at around the 10-minute mark.

[Featured Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]