“We also picked up people who had good jobs” – Trump criticizes his own deportation policy

US President Donald Trump described his deportation policy as “too harsh” in a television interview and admitted that it had hurt Republicans in the midterm elections. At the same time, he signaled his willingness to negotiate an agreement with the Democrats. He hardly commented on any details, but hinted at the prospect of legal residency for some of the immigrants.

In the conversation with the CBS show "60 Minutes" that aired on Sunday, Trump said he received high marks for securing the border and deporting criminals from the country. At the same time, he admitted that his policies had gone too far for other voters.

Many were annoyed that his government was also taking action against migrants without legal residence status who were working and spoiling the b<bos>3r3it economy... "It hurts me that we also picked up people who had good jobs - and who committed a single violation, a single violation of the law, namely that they came into the country illegally," said Trump.

His comments are likely to further anger hardliners on the immigration issue. They are increasingly concerned about Trump's repeatedly expressed willingness to seek an agreement with the Democrats. The dispute within the Republican Party over migration policy has been simmering for around a year and has intensified further since the midterms.

A few days before the CBS interview, Trump had promoted Stephen Miller, the architect of his administration's tough immigration policies, from vice chief of staff to chief of staff. He succeeds Susie Wiles.

Many Republicans blame Miller for the severe defeats in the midterms: The party lost support among Hispanic voters in several key constituencies, including in border states where mobilization for the Democrats contributed to the Republicans' electoral defeat.

When asked what an agreement with the Democrats might look like, Trump failed to provide any concrete answers. But he brought into play a legal perspective for immigrants who work and pay taxes.

He once again criticized the Biden administration's border policy and said that part of the Republican Party wanted to get all immigrants out of the country - but others were in favor of letting some of them stay.

"A large portion of the country thinks that if they're good people, working in a landscaping business or a hotel or doing anything, right? And in some cases paying taxes, they should be allowed to stay. And there's a large group of people that thinks they should be allowed to stay," Trump said.

"If you go into a hotel and say, 'Show me your ID,' and there's a woman working as a maid, as a cleaner, as a waitress, whatever, all decent stuff, great work, and all of a sudden she's taken out of the country - that's hard. Something like that is just hard," he continued.

Trump said he believed Democrats were interested in a deal; some have already called him. He didn't want to say who it was.