Donald Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday he will reverse President Obama's executive orders on immigration and deport all undocumented immigrants from the United States.
"We're going to keep the families together, but they have to go," he said in the interview. Pressed on what he'd do if the immigrants in question had nowhere to return to, Trump reiterated: "They have to go."
"We will work with them. They have to go. Chuck, we either have a country, or we don't have a country," he said.
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Simply put, Trump says he will have to rescind Obama's executive order offering those brought to the U.S. illegally as children — known as DREAMers — protection from deportation, as well as Obama's unilateral move to delay deportation for their families as well, according to a story published by NBC News.
"We have to make a whole new set of standards" for those immigrating to the U.S., he added.
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The comments may rekindle the fire that engulfed Trump when he announced his campaign to become president. Latino activists especially were angry when he kicked off his campaign with a speech that accused Mexico of sending "criminals" and "rapists" to the U.S.
GOP primary opponent Jeb Bush called those comments "extraordinarily ugly," Trump has doubled down and has, since launching his bid in June, maintained a persistent lead in polls of the GOP field. He routinely draws thousands of enthusiastic supporters to his campaign rallies, and recently opened up his first campaign office in the all-important early voting state of Iowa.
Trump has called for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and said he’d force Mexico to pay for it.
There are about 11.3 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., slightly more than half of them from Mexico, and they account for 5.1 percent of the U.S. labor force, according to the Pew Research Center.
Obama in November announced a unilateral change to U.S. immigration policy designed to shelter millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation and provide them with three-year work permits.
To qualify for the program, immigrants must have lived in the U.S. for at least five years and be the parents of an American citizen or have been brought here as children themselves. They must also pass a criminal background check.
There has been no indication that Trump's positions on immigration have dented his appeal, and Sunday's interview seems unlikely to hurt.
Trump also said he would consider shutting down the federal government over funding for Planned Parenthood. He says he isn't sure whether he has donated money to the organization in the past but adds that he would oppose providing federal funds if it continues providing abortion services.
Trump says he would ask nominees to the Supreme Court about their views on abortion and would take their views into consideration as he made a decision on whom to nominate. He says he opposes abortion except in case of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.
Calling the nuclear agreement forged between Iran and world powers including the U.S. "a bad deal," Trump says that Iran will have nuclear weapons and take over parts of the world. "And I think it's going to lead to nuclear holocaust," he said. Instead of tearing up the deal, he said he would "police" it, and he called Secretary of State John Kerry "incompetent" for negotiating the agreement.
On defeating Islamic State militants, Trump said the key is to take away their wealth by taking back the oil fields under their control in Iraq. Told by "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd that such a move could require ground troops, Trump responded, "That's OK." He said the Iraqis should be given "something" from their oil fields but, in an apparent reference to Iraq War veterans, "we should definitely take back money for our soldiers."
"We've had soldiers that were so badly hurt and killed," he said. "I want their families to get something. Wounded warriors all over the place. They got nothing. And they can't even say we had a victory.
Trump in the past has accused Saudi Arabia of being the world's biggest funder of terrorism. On Sunday, he said the Gulf nation should be paying the U.S. because it wouldn't exist without American support. And, Trump said, the only reason the U.S. supports Saudi Arabia is because it needs the oil.
"Now, we don't need the oil so much," he said in an apparent reference to U.S. oil and gas production. "And if we let our people really go, we wouldn't need the oil at all. And we could let everybody else fight it out."
Trump said Saudi Arabia is going to need help fighting against the kinds of militants who have targeted neighboring Yemen. He said he would assist the Saudis in that event, albeit reluctantly and for a price.
"We defend Saudi Arabia. We send our ships. We send our planes. Every time there's a little ruckus, we send those ships and those planes. We get nothing. Why? They're making a billion a day. We get nothing. And this is the problem with the world," he said.
Ask who he talks to for military advice, Trump said he watches the news shows and cited former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton ("a tough cookie") and retired Army Col. Jack Jacobs ("a good guy") as two examples of people who impress him.
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