United States President Donald Trump has admitted that his administration’s mass deportation campaign against undocumented immigrants may have been excessively harsh.
Trump made the remarks during an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, an excerpt of which was released on Sunday ahead of the programme’s television broadcast later that day.
Asked about his administration’s deportation policy, the US president said, “I think it was too tough…I think it might be too tough.”
CBS shared the interview excerpt on its official X account. The interview was recorded after the Republican Party suffered a major setback in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Although Trump’s efforts to tighten security along the US southern border have attracted support from some sections of the population, his administration’s aggressive campaign to deport millions of undocumented migrants has faced widespread condemnation.
Despite the criticism and the party’s electoral losses, Trump on Friday appointed Stephen Miller, the key architect of his hardline immigration policy, as his chief of staff, signalling plans for a tougher political response.
Miller has been closely associated with the administration’s controversial immigration crackdown, particularly the activities of masked federal immigration agents.
He also attracted criticism after defending federal agents involved in the fatal shootings of two American citizens earlier this year.
