Trump Signals Openness to Immigration Deal With Democrats After Midterms

President Donald Trump said he is open to working with Democrats on immigration after two years of aggressive enforcement across the country. Speaking during a 60 Minutes interview filmed on Friday, Trump said his mass deportation policies might be "too tough" and suggested letting people who have lived in the United States for 10 or 15 years work out a deal.

The shift comes after the midterm elections, which administration policies helped turn into a national backlash. Strategists say that backlash contributed to one of the best Democratic election showings in decades.

“Let the people that are here, and in some cases, here for 10 and 15 years—work a deal for them.”

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin echoed Trump's conciliatory tone at a conference in Maryland. Mullin said Trump encouraged him to work with Democrats who have reached out about collaborating on immigration reform in the new Congress.

Mullin said he and Trump have not yet discussed any concrete policy changes. He told reporters that Democrats have been calling him since the election and that Trump said to start working with them and meet at some point.

The secretary strongly opposed any amnesty for people living in the United States illegally. He said a bipartisan approach is the only way to get anything done, but he pushed back decisively against agreements that would include amnesty.

Democrats remain wary of Trump's gentler tone, especially after he named Stephen Miller, the architect of the administration's immigration agenda, as his new White House chief of staff. A former immigration judge said Miller is unlikely to advise the president to sign a bad immigration bill or sweeping amnesty.

Newly elected Democrats include many who campaigned against Trump's immigration policies, particularly Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. Democratic Socialist Claire Valdez, who won a House seat covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens, said congressional Democrats have a mandate to abolish ICE.