Donald Trump says as president he would ultimately give some illegal immigrants legal status and isn't ruling out a pathway to citizenship, CNN reports.
That sounds different than what he said during his June 16 announcement speech when critics say he insulted Mexicans.
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. … They're sending people that have lots of problems," he said then. "They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
Those who are not committing crimes could find legal status under a Trump administration, he told CNN's Dana Bash in comments aired Wednesday on CNN's
"The Situation Room."
"It depends," Trump told Bash. "Look, it sound cold, and it sounds hard. … Our country is going to hell. We have to have a system where people are legally in our country."
While Mexico makes it hard for immigrants to enter, Trump said, "With us they walk across, … immediately they're members, call them members of our country. It's not right. "
One of Trump's GOP rivals, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, appeared immediately afterward, saying Trump's comments sound a lot like amnesty.
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