Republican senators who backed President Donald Trump's plan to track down and deport undocumented immigrants are now warning that he has "fumbled the issue," according to The Hill, which reports that what helped GOP candidates in 2024 has become a growing political liability for the party.
Several GOP senators told The Hill that Trump's deportation policy "has gone too far" and warned that it's hurting Republican candidates with suburban and Hispanic voters.
A Fox News poll of 1,211 registered voters, conducted Sept. 11-14, found that 53 percent think the administration's enforcement of immigration laws has gone too far, The Hill reported. Among those voters, 49 percent said the wrong people are being targeted and 45 percent said the government is using too much force. The poll has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), who is running for reelection this year, said most Americans want Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to focus on migrants who have committed crimes other than crossing the border illegally.
"Most Americans are saying we are a nation of laws, but with as many people here illegally as we've got, let's make darn sure that our focus is on getting those individuals that have violated our laws with regard to other things other than being here illegally," he told The Hill.
Rounds advised the administration to ease off immigrants who "are here and that have a court determination that [says] they can be here."
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) pointed to the longtime residents caught up in the crackdown. "Once you start deporting people who have otherwise been here without incident for 15, 20 years, that's a gray zone that I think where you find a lot of division of opinion," he said. "I always thought that this idea of mass deportations sent the wrong message," he added.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he agrees with his colleagues that mass deportations have gone too far. "I would rather have 100 illegally present people go free than have that innocent person caught," he said. "They're right."
Of enforcement sweeps that have caught up citizens and green-card holders, Tillis said: "If you're going to put somebody through that, you better be damn sure you have a justified basis for doing it." He added: "Aside from it being politically dumb, it's immoral, in my opinion."
Tillis argued Republicans squandered a win.
"Instead of taking that win … we've completely masked that enormous success of securing the border, by overreaching and going too aggressively," he said.
