{"id":33389,"date":"2026-11-11T11:51:49","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T16:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=33389"},"modified":"2026-11-11T11:51:49","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T16:51:49","slug":"trump-admits-deportations-may-have-gone-too-far-as-evangelical-group-urges-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/11\/trump-admits-deportations-may-have-gone-too-far-as-evangelical-group-urges-reform","title":{"rendered":"Trump Admits Deportations May Have Gone \u2018Too Far\u2019 as Evangelical Group Urges Reform"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_33392\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33392\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2026\/11\/ICE-Deportations_credit-US-Immigration-and-Customs-Enforcement-Flickr-Inset-The-White-House.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-33392\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2026\/11\/ICE-Deportations_credit-US-Immigration-and-Customs-Enforcement-Flickr-Inset-The-White-House.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33392\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement \/ Flickr | Inset: The White House<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>President Donald Trump signaled a possible shift in his administration\u2019s approach to immigration, saying his deportation policies may have been too aggressive and that he is willing to work with Democrats on reforms.<\/p>\n<p>The comments, made during a CBS <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=m2aC8lAOQbg\">\u201c60 Minutes\u201d interview<\/a> that aired Sunday, come after Republicans suffered major losses in the 2026 midterm elections and Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s remarks drew a <a href=\"https:\/\/worldrelief.org\/pr-world-relief-affirms-president-trumps-call-for-bipartisan-immigration-reforms\/\">positive response<\/a> from World Relief, an Evangelical Christian humanitarian organization that has repeatedly raised concerns about the impact of immigration enforcement on families and communities.<\/p>\n<p>Asked what issue he would like to work on with Democrats, Trump pointed to immigration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d love to do something on immigration,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>While defending his administration\u2019s efforts to secure the southern border and remove dangerous criminals, Trump also acknowledged that some deportations have affected immigrants who have lived and worked in the United States for years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>He pointed to immigrants working in landscaping, hotels and other industries, suggesting that some longtime residents who have established lives in the country should be considered differently from those with serious criminal records.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a large part of the country that [thinks] that they should be allowed to stay if they\u2019re good people working in a landscaping company or working in a hotel or doing something,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>When asked directly whether his deportation policy had gone too far, Trump responded, \u201cI think it might be too tough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump suggested he would consider a deal allowing certain undocumented immigrants who have lived in the country for 10 or 15 years to remain. He also claimed that Democratic lawmakers had already contacted him about possible negotiations, although he declined to identify them.<\/p>\n<p>For World Relief, which works with churches to serve refugees and other vulnerable immigrants, the president\u2019s comments created an opportunity to renew calls for bipartisan immigration reform.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe agree with President Trump that the deportation efforts of the past two years have gone too far,\u201d World Relief President and CEO Myal Greene said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have impacted many individuals who were lawfully present when the president took office and have left many U.S. citizen children and spouses as functional orphans and widows.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Greene urged the president and lawmakers from both parties to work toward legislation that would address immigration enforcement while protecting families.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe welcome the president\u2019s comments and urge him and congressional leaders, in both parties, to work together in good faith to forge consensus policy reforms that could actually become law \u2014 as soon as possible, before more families are harmed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Matthew Soerens, World Relief\u2019s vice president for advocacy and policy, also expressed hope that the administration would pursue a compromise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are serious, bipartisan proposals that avoid the extremes of either mass deportation or amnesty,\u201d Soerens said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope and pray the president will pursue them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not everyone in the administration agrees on how immigration policy should change.<\/p>\n<p>Vice President JD Vance has pushed back against suggestions that Republicans should support broad legal status for undocumented immigrants following their election losses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m open to the idea that we should change enforcement \u2014 by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance,\u201d Vance <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JDVance\/status\/2118004988433641835\">wrote<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vance argued that the war in Iran, rather than immigration enforcement, was responsible for the Republican Party\u2019s electoral setbacks.<\/p>\n<p>The debate comes as immigration remains a deeply divisive issue among American voters. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-elections\/exit-polls\">Exit polling<\/a> from the midterm elections indicated that 58% of voters believed the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies had gone too far, even as Republicans maintained strong support among voters who prioritized immigration enforcement, underscoring the political stakes of any change.<\/p>\n<p>Trump acknowledged those competing views during his interview, describing differences between those who favor removing all undocumented immigrants and those who support focusing deportations on violent criminals while offering longtime residents a possible path to remain.<\/p>\n<p>For Christian organizations such as World Relief, the discussion also raises questions about how immigration policies affect families, churches and vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n<p>The organization has consistently called for policies that balance border security and the rule of law with compassion for immigrants and the protection of families.<\/p>\n<p>Whether Trump\u2019s comments lead to legislation remains uncertain. Still, World Relief hopes the president\u2019s willingness to reconsider parts of his approach will create an opening for reforms that lawmakers from both parties can support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump signaled a possible shift in his administration\u2019s approach to immigration, saying his deportation policies may have been too aggressive and that he is willing to work with Democrats on reforms. The comments, made during a CBS \u201c60 Minutes\u201d interview that aired Sunday, come after Republicans suffered major losses in the 2026 midterm&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":33392,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Trump Admits Deportations May Have Gone \u2018Too Far\u2019 as Evangelical Group Urges Reform<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"World Relief welcomes Trump&#039;s openness to immigration reform, urging bipartisan action to protect immigrant families and communities.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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