Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) warned in a new interview that support for the mass deportations promised by President-elect Trump could “collapse” once he takes office.
“Lincoln once said that with popular sentiment, anything is possible. Without popular sentiment, nothing is possible.” Gingrich told the Guardian.
“Yes, there are many human stories of mothers and babies and children being deported, but then support for deportation programs will collapse,” he added.
Mr. Gingrich also said that advocating for the deportation of “someone who came here when he was 2 years old, spoke only English, graduated as high school valedictorian, and is now a nurse or doctor” “Nonsense,” he said.
“We're going to deport them, but they don't speak the language of their parents' country of origin and they've earned the right to be American?”
The president-elect said in an interview with NBC's Kristen Welker that aired last month that his campaign promises to illegally deport millions of people in the United States and change the immigration system more broadly are a futile campaign. I made it clear that it wasn't.
“We don't have a choice. First of all, they cost a lot of money. But we're starting with criminals, so we have to do it. And we'll start with other countries and see what happens. We'll see,” President Trump said.
The Hill has reached out to Trump's transition team for comment.
