Following a quiet, uneventful meeting on Wednesday, with Mexican President, Enrique Pena Nieto, Donald Trump returned to the aggressive stance against illegal immigration that has been the cornerstone of his campaign. Only hours later, in a speech given in Phoenix, Trump vowed to crack down on criminal immigrants. He also suggested that all undocumented immigrants are still subject to deportation from the US.
The Phoenix speech was seen as a way for Trump to clarify his position on immigration after recent speculation that he may be softening his stance. He dismissed the question of whether he intends to forcibly deport the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the US as irrelevant. Instead, he made a strong suggestion that he still intends to see as many deported as possible.
Trump argued that the central issue is not the needs of the undocumented immigrants. He mocked the ‘media elites’ obsessed with the issue of their legal status as being completely out of touch if they really believe it to be among the biggest problems faced by the US in the 21st century.
Trump reiterated that undocumented immigrants seeking legal status should leave and attempt to come back legally, a process that can take several years. He declared that his Presidential administration would show zero tolerance for criminal immigrants. The controversial Republican Presidential candidate indicated that he would create a deportation task force to deal with dangerous criminal immigrants still at large, and suspend US visas from nations lacking adequate security screenings.