Trump acknowledges immigration crackdown was ‘too tough’ after Republican election losses

WASHINGTON DC: US President Donald Trump has admitted that his administration’s immigration crackdown may have gone too far, signalling a notable shift in tone on one of the central issues of his political agenda following his party’s disappointing performance in the midterm elections.

Speaking in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, Trump said he deserved an “A plus” for sharply reducing illegal border crossings but acknowledged that aggressive deportation policies had politically damaged Republicans.

His remarks came even as the Department of Homeland Security maintained that the administration had no intention of retreating from its immigration enforcement campaign.

Immigration ranked as the third most important concern among midterm voters, following the economy and the state of democracy, according to election-day polling.

The Democratic Party’s sweeping congressional victories were also aided by a shift in Latino voter support towards Democrats, including in traditionally conservative states such as Texas.

Asked about the political consequences of his immigration policies, Trump acknowledged that the issue had produced mixed results for Republican candidates in Tuesday’s elections.

“I think I got an A plus for closing up the border,” he told 60 Minutes in an interview broadcast on Sunday evening.

He said his administration deserved high marks for removing people considered dangerous but conceded that its enforcement measures had also affected individuals who had established jobs and livelihoods in the United States.

Trump noted that some people who had otherwise built productive lives in the country were deported because they had entered the United States illegally. “I think it was too tough,” he said.

The president also expressed willingness to work with congressional Democrats on immigration reform, saying he would “love to do something on immigration” with them, although he offered no specific proposals.

His latest comments mark a significant departure from his position in an interview with 60 Minutes a year earlier, when he had firmly defended his administration’s immigration raids and argued that enforcement efforts had not gone far enough.