Trump favors a ‘deportation force’

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would be in favor of a “deportation force” among other ideas for dealing with illegal immigration.

“We have to do what we have to do,” Trump said during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” after the fourth GOP debate, saying, “Other people have done it.”

“You’re going to have a deportation force,” Trump said when pressed by host Mika Brzezinski on how he would remove millions of undocumented immigrants from the U.S.

“You’re going to do it humanely,” Trump continued, noting that there are some “excellent, wonderful people, some fantastic people, that have been here a long period of time.”

“They’re going back where they came,” Trump said of those in the country illegally.

Two other candidates, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, took softer approaches to the issue of illegal immigration during the fourth GOP debate Tuesday.

Kasich, who has also indicated he is in favor of a stronger border approach, targeted Trump after the real estate tycoon suggested that millions of people in the U.S. illegally should be deported.

“For the 11 million people — come on, folks. We all know you can’t pick them up and ship them … back across the border. It’s a silly argument. It is not an adult argument. It makes no sense,” Kasich said.

“Twelve million illegal immigrants, to send them back, 500,000 a month, is just not possible,” Bush said. “And it’s not embracing American values. And it would tear communities apart. And it would send a signal that we’re not the kind of country that I know America is.”

Trump reiterated Wednesday that he would be in favor of building a wall along the nation’s southern border and noted that illegal immigrants are coming from places other than Mexico, including Asia and from “all over the world.”

Trump pointed to President Dwight Eisenhower repeatedly moving more than one million illegal immigrants out of the country in arguing for having a strong border wall.