Trump's immigration chief touts record naturalizations
A public clash is opening inside Trump's base over whether his own immigration enforcement chief is delivering on the deportation promise — bad news for the hardline wing that expected mass removals, not new citizens.
- Trump's top immigration official publicly promoted the hundreds of thousands of people naturalized over the past year.
- That message sits badly with supporters who backed Trump on a promise of mass deportations, not expanded citizenship.
- The Springfield, Ohio pet-eating claim from the campaign is being defended as effective politics, whether or not it was literally true.
- The deeper complaint is that mass migration has hollowed out small American towns.
Outlook: Expect more pressure on Trump to replace or rein in his immigration team as the gap between campaign promises and actual policy gets harder to ignore.