News · Migration
Trump says his deportations were 'too tough' and opens the door to a deal with Democrats
In an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes, the U.S. president acknowledged the political cost of deporting workers with no criminal record and floated negotiating a deal, without announcing any measures, according to Periódico Cubano and CiberCuba.
U.S. President Donald Trump admitted on Sunday that his deportation drive may have gone too far and hurt Republicans in the midterm elections. 'I think it was too tough. I think maybe it was too tough, yes,' he answered on CBS's 60 Minutes when asked by journalist Ross Douthat, according to an EFE report cited by Periódico Cubano.
Trump sketched the outlines of a possible deal: 'Get the murderers out, get all the violent ones out, get the drug dealers out, but the people who have been here ten or fifteen years, negotiate something for them,' CiberCuba reported. He also said: 'When you walk into a hotel and there's a woman who has worked there as a maid, as a cleaner, and suddenly they take her out of the country, that's tough, that's a very tough thing.'
The admission came with no order to halt Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations and no mechanism allowing those facing removal to stay in the country; he also gave no requirements, scope, timetable or negotiating partners, Periódico Cubano noted. According to ABC News, cited by that outlet, he mentioned employees of hotels, restaurants and landscaping firms, some with a decade or more in the country.
Cuban-American Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar welcomed the remarks on X: 'Well done, Mr. President. What you described on 60 Minutes is exactly what the Dignity Act is about. A Republican-led immigration bill with bipartisan support,' according to CiberCuba. The bill, which she reintroduced in July 2025 with Democrat Veronica Escobar and which had 40 cosponsors as of October 15, 20 Republicans and 20 Democrats, would create a renewable temporary legal status of seven to ten years for immigrants without criminal records who have lived in the country at least five years, with no direct path to citizenship and a restitution payment of about $7,000.
Personnel decisions point the other way: on Friday Trump picked Stephen Miller, one of the main architects of the deportation strategy, as chief of staff in place of Susie Wiles, and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin wrote after the elections that 'deportations will continue,' according to Periódico Cubano.
For Cubans with pending immigration cases, the interview creates no additional protection, that outlet stressed. Democrats, who regained control of both chambers of Congress in the November 3 elections, will take up their majorities on January 3, 2027; until then Republicans keep the outgoing Congress.
Sources: Periódico Cubano · CiberCuba
Data updated: 2026-11-09T16:15:00.000Z