House Speaker Paul Ryan alleviated concerns on Sunday that President-elect Donald Trump will establish a “deportation force” to round up illegal immigrants throughout the country, saying the impending administration’s top priority is to secure the border.
“That is not what our focus is,” Mr. Ryan said, when asked about Mr. Trump’s previous comments about deportation on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “That is not what we’re focused on. We’re focused on securing the border.”
The speaker said any immigration plan has to start with securing the border.
“We think that’s first and foremost, before we get into any other immigration issue, we’ve got to know who’s coming and going in the country, we’ve got to secure the border,” he said. “So we believe an enforcement bill — a border-security enforcement bill is really the first priority, and that’s what we’re focused on.”
When pressed on Mr. Trump’s previous suggestions that he wants to deport illegal immigrants, Mr. Ryan pushed back.
“No, securing the border is our top priority,” he said. “That’s why I say, we’re not focused on — we are not planning on erecting a deportation force. Donald Trump is not planning on that.”
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