- Trump insists ICE raids "haven't gone far enough," pushing for mass deportations and blaming liberal judges for slowdowns.
- Critics warn raids use aggressive tactics and risk removing essential workers, while legal challenges and data question prioritization of dangerous offenders.
President Donald Trump doubled down on his hardline immigration stance in a candid “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday, declaring his commitment to ramping up Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across the U.S. and insisting the operations “haven’t gone far enough.”
The remarks, delivered to CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell, underscore Trump’s unwavering focus on his signature 2024 campaign pledge: a sweeping mass deportation effort targeting millions of undocumented immigrants.
Yet, as enforcement actions intensify, the president faced pointed questions about reports of excessive force by ICE agents and the broader dragnet that’s ensnaring not just criminals, but essential workers in agriculture and landscaping.
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Trump didn’t mince words on the raids’ intensity.
“I think they haven’t gone far enough,” he said, attributing slowdowns to “the judges, by the liberal judges, that were put in” by former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
Defending Aggressive ICE Tactics
The interview, taped Friday amid a flurry of high-profile detentions, arrives at a tense moment for Trump’s second-term agenda.
Photographs and videos circulating online have captured ICE agents employing what critics call brutal methods — including physical confrontations and rapid takedowns — during workplace sweeps and neighborhood operations.
When O’Donnell pressed Trump on whether he’s comfortable with such tactics, his response was blunt: “Yeah, because you have to get the people out.”
Trump justified the approach by painting a stark picture of those targeted.
“Many of them are murderers. Many of them are people that were thrown out of their countries because they were, you know, criminals,” he said. A tremendous lie.
Data tells a more nuanced story.
Internal ICE records, obtained by NBC News in June, revealed stark gaps in prioritizing the most dangerous offenders.
Over the final three months of the Biden administration and the initial five months of Trump’s return to the White House, agents had detained just 6% of known undocumented immigrants convicted of homicide and 11% of those with sexual assault convictions.
The figures highlight the logistical challenges — and potential overreach — in executing Trump’s vision of deporting upwards of 10 million people.
Shifting to Border Patrol’s Hardline Playbook
This isn’t the first signal from the administration that it’s leaning into more aggressive enforcement.
Last week, NBC News reported that Trump officials are overhauling ICE’s regional leadership, installing Border Patrol veterans known for their no-holds-barred style at the southern border.
The move, insiders say, is explicitly aimed at accelerating deportation quotas, with one official praising Border Patrol’s “results-oriented” playbook as a model for interior operations.
Trump’s comments also touched on a growing backlash: fears that the raids are upending communities by removing laborers who keep America’s farms and yards running.
Addressing concerns that deportations are hitting landscapers and farmers alongside felons, Trump acknowledged their value — sort of.
“Look, I need farmers and I need landscapers more than anybody,” he told O’Donnell.
A Hardline Policy with a Legal Pathway?
Pressed on whether non-criminal undocumented immigrants would face removal, Trump laid out a zero-tolerance baseline.
“We have to start off with a policy, and the policy has to be, you came into the country illegally, you’re going to go out,” he said.
He dangled a sliver of hope for returnees, adding that if deported individuals want back in, “we’re going to work with you, and you’re going to come back into our country legally.”
The president’s unapologetic tone has galvanized his base but drawn sharp rebukes from immigrant rights groups and Democrats.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the interview “a green light for chaos,” warning of economic ripple effects in labor-short industries.
Meanwhile, legal challenges are piling up, with federal judges — many appointed during the Obama and Biden eras — issuing temporary halts to some raids on due process grounds.
A Defining Test for Trump’s Agenda
As Trump marks nearly a year back in office, his immigration push remains a litmus test for his “America First” revival.
With midterm elections looming and public opinion split — polls show 52% of Americans support stricter enforcement but only 38% back mass deportations without exemptions — the coming weeks could define whether this agenda surges forward or stalls in the courts.
The full “60 Minutes” segment is available on CBS News platforms, offering a raw glimpse into Trump’s unfiltered worldview as he navigates a divided nation.
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