WATCH: Speaker Mike Johnson Capitulates on Mass Deportations, Says “Course Correction” Needed Going into Midterms After “Overzealous” Immigration Enforcement as White House Tells GOP to Avoid Running on Mass Deportations
House Speaker Mike Johnson publicly admitted this week that mass deportations are over after a “hiccup” with Hispanic voters and that a more thoughtful approach is needed with regard to immigration enforcement.
Trump and Republicans ran on the promise of “the largest deportation in the history of our country,” with Trump saying he hoped to send “nearly 20 million” back to their home countries.
But since two left-wing radicals attacked ICE agents and got shot, the GOP’s tune on immigration crackdowns has changed.
During an interview onstage at the House Retreat in Doral, Florida, Johnson argued that the GOP is losing Hispanic and Latino voters because “some of the immigration enforcement was viewed to be overzealous,” and that a “course correction was necessary.”
Trump’s new pick for DHS Secretary, Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), he said, is going to “do a great job in that role,” alongside “Tom Homan,” who he lauded for withdrawing immigration agents and bringing “calm to the chaos” in Minnesota.
“I think these people will see we did what we said we were going to do. We calmed down the immigration enforcement concern. We uphold the rule of law, but we do it in a way that honors the dignity of everyone, and they’ll understand that our party is with them, cares about them, and this is the permanent home where they should be,” Johnson added.
WATCH:
Interviewer: You’ve said you’re going to defy the odds, defy history, and keep the majority. But how do you go about doing that? Do you somehow preserve that coalition that you had built, or do you see a new coalition form?
Johnson: No, listen, we had a huge demographic shift in the 2024 election, as you reference, and all those groups and others who came into the Republican Party— not reluctantly, but they came with hopeful anticipation— two reasons for that. We were presenting common sense solutions to the challenges they were facing, and the Democrat Party left them behind. As I say all the time, I said earlier this morning, this is not your father’s Democratic Party. They do not resemble what, a generation ago, they did. Their platforms are radically different now, and they’re, most of them, are avowed socialist or Marxist, and they’re, they’re, they’re going too far left. So all those people we can hold and have a durable governing common sense majority for their foreseeable future.
We got a little hiccup with some of the Hispanic and Latino voters, for certain, because some of the immigration enforcement was viewed to be overzealous. And, you know, everybody can describe it differently. But here’s the good news, we’re in a course correction mode right now. We’re going to have a new Secretary of Homeland Security. Mark Wayne Mullen is going to be, do a great job in that role. I’m sure that he’ll be confirmed by the Senate. He’s a thoughtful guy. He’ll bring a thoughtful approach. You have somebody like Tom Homan, who has 40 years experience in the field and was decorated by former Democrat presidents for his acumen and expertise, and he went into Minneapolis and brought calm to the chaos there.
That’s what you’re going to see. And I think that the Hispanic and Latino voters who came to us came for a number of reasons. They were very animated about the open border and all the negative secondary effects that came from that, but they also concerned about the cost of living and the lack of jobs and all these other things that everyone’s concerned about. So, we have a great record to run on, Scott.
The reason we’re going to win the midterms, the reason we’re going to defy history and do it is because a number of factors. I Have a very boring 90 minute slide show that I could show you this morning and show you all the reasons we’re going to win, but we have great candidates. We have a fundraising advantage right now. We have much better policy and a strong record to run on, and all these demographics, good people, who are going to feel the positive effects of that. We’re anticipating extraordinary economic growth going into this year in the midterms. All boats will rise, salaries and wages will go up, you have bigger tax refunds and bigger paychecks, and the average family $10,000 more money in their pocket because of Republican policies. I think these people will see we did what we said we were going to do. We calmed down the immigration enforcement concern. We uphold the rule of law, but we do it in a way that honors the dignity of everyone, and they’ll understand that our party is with them, cares about them, and this is the permanent home where they should be
This comes as the White House quietly urges GOP lawmakers to avoid the term “mass deportations” during the midterm elections.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, sources said that White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair urged GOP lawmakers at the annual House retreat to stop talking about mass removals of illegal aliens who hadn’t committed additional violent crimes.
The White House responded to the reports by touting deportations of criminal illegal aliens, the same policy used under Obama, and did not deny claims that they’ve sought to end the focus on mass deportations.
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