Donald Trump's latest deportation plan would reportedly target up to 6.5 million illegal immigrants who pose security threats – even as it shelves a campaign cornerstone to boot out millions of others in the United States illegally.
In a fiery policy speech Wednesday night in Phoenix – after a somber diplomatic sit-down in Mexico City with President Enrique Pena Nieto – Trump also said he'd triple the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and create a "new special deportation task force" to track down illegal immigrants who've committed felonies or serious misdemeanors.
The Washington Post, citing data from the Migration Policy Institute, reports some 690,000 illegal immigrants fit into that plan's category of security priorities – though the Post reports others have put the number closer to 2 million.
If visa overstays are also included in the category, the number would grow by about 4.5 million, the Post reports.
"And you can call it deported if you want," the GOP nominee said of his new plan. "The press doesn't like that term. You can call it whatever the hell you want. They're gone."
The fate of other illegals is less clear.
"That discussion can only take place in an atmosphere in which illegal immigration is a memory of the past, no longer with us, allowing us to weigh the different options available based on the new circumstances at the time," he said.
But the Post reports Trump's refusal to consider a path to legal status and proposal to expand E-Verify would make it harder for them to stay.
The New York Times, meanwhile, described the difference between Trump's Phoenix speech, and his earlier visit with Pena Nieto as "so jarring that his true vision and intentions on immigration were hard to discern."
"Never had Mr. Trump gambled quite like this," the Times wrote of the diplomatic visit earlier Wednesday.
"Aiming to appear statesmanlike, he traveled to politically hostile territory to meet with a president who might have surprised him with a rebuke, and he also risked support from some conservatives who do not want him cozying up to Mexico or softening his immigration plans."
But there was a snag: Trump asserted there was no discussion about compelling Mexico to pay for the wall, while Peña Nieto said that at the start of the meeting, "I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall."
In Phoenix, Trump doubled down. "Mexico will pay for the wall, believe me — 100 percent — they don’t know it yet, but they will pay for the wall," he said. "They’re great people, and great leaders, but they will pay for the wall."
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