that is a lie. donald trump once again lied to journalists in order to get good coverage for a couple hours before he returns to his campaign pablem during his speech about blaming all of america s economic problems on immigrants. and once again doubling down on his theory of the case in which he throws them all out and our economy magically comes back to life. the fact of the matter is donald trump riled up the republican base, further radicalized them on immigration and hes not going to try to come to congress and do something responsible. in the end his immigration policy will make this country weaker because we are built on the strength of being able to bring the smartest, brightest people from all around the world and folks just don t want to come to this country any longer to try to make a better life or to try to start a company because of the way trump talks about immigrants, muslims and anybody that looks or feels different than him. senator, the white house also has not del
does the president stand on comprehensive immigration reform? is a deal possible in congress any time soon? reporter: wolf, tonight it sounds like the white house is pulling back on the idea of pushing through a comprehensive immigration bill or a compromise bill. and one reason why is that republicans are divided over some of the key issues at the heart of that proposal and instead they re looking at some other issues as well moving forward on health care and the like trying to figure out how to get their party united over a number of issues that they re currently divided on. president donald trump told reporters yesterday he d be open to a dramatic shift. legalizing some undocumented immigrants as part of a broad compromise bill. i believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible. reporter: but during his speech to congress last night, trump was vague on the details. instead, emphasizing tougher enforcement and building a wall on the border with mexico.
his hard line stance on illegal immigration. you know, i don t make it a habit to respond to rumors passed on by reporters. reporter: it wasn t a rumor. it was the president of the united states. you re welcome to testify and give your own views. i m going to wait until i see specific legislative proposals to comment on them and not chase down every press room of people reporter: what about the idea of giving legal status on illegal immigrants, are you open to that? my idea is we need to secure the border. i don t support amnesty. reporter: trump is trying to deliver on a central campaign promise, to build the wall paid for fully by mexico. we will soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border. reporter: but the billions of dollars that congress will first have to approve have given some republicans pause. we ve got to find some way to pay for it. we can t just continue to add debt. reporter: and some influential republicans question
publicity for a few hours, speaking to network anchors. really wasn t a serious initiative. what do you make that of? well, strategically it s a terrible thing to do. maybe in the short term they feel like they were going into the speech with good will, so to speak, because we re talking about compromise, trying to get really what has been an albatross of an issue to try to get fix ed in congress. we ve seen democrats and republicans come together. we saw president george w. bush work with ted kennedy, john mccain to get t. they weren t able to do so. in the long term, the fact of the matter is if he does not stick by his pledge to try to compromise and get something done, then that s going to come back to bite him, even though he might have sent a dog whistle in that speech last night, you know, pushing forth a very hard line approach to illegal immigration. i just i don t think he was elected with a mandate to solve comprehensive immigration reform. so, i don t know i agree w
as we speak tonight, we are removing gang members, drug dealers and criminals that threaten our communities and prey on our very innocent citizens. reporter: the mixed messages spawned confusion on capitol hill and left many deeply skeptical that any immigration measure could pass congress this year. but what s necessary forerunner to get what you call a comprehensive bill is the bill confidence with the american people that will we re going to deliver on what for the last 20 years we said we re going to deliver on, secure the border and we haven t delivered. reporter: he said he would be open to legal status. he told that to reporters yesterday. would you be open to that legal status? before you even deal with that question, you ve got to take care of these other things. that s the most important thing you have to build confidence for. reporter: conservatives are dubious that trump may back off