Trump Backer in Congress Downplays Immigration Talk: It’s a ‘Virtual Wall’

One of the Republicans in Congress who actually endorsed Donald Trump during the primaries made some curious statements this week downplaying Trump’s immigration rhetoric.

Trump has talked about getting tough by building a wall and carrying out mass deportations, but Collins spoke to The Buffalo News and used the word “virtual” to describe both of those.

No, seriously.

He referred to the proposed border wall as a “virtual wall” and said, “Maybe we will be building a wall over some aspects of it; I don’t know.”

In other words, he says the idea of building a wall along the entire border seems a little too out there.

And here’s what he had to say about mass deportations:

“They go out that door, they go in that room, they get their work papers, Social Security number, then they come in that door, and they’ve got legal work status but are not citizens of the United States. So there was a virtual deportation as they left that door for processing and came in this door.”

He also said, “I call it a rhetorical deportation of 12 million people.”

So yes, this is one of the only members of Congress to endorse Trump in the primaries saying that his immigration proposals are exaggerations.

Collins did want to clarify that he’s only sharing his opinions, not Trump’s.

[image via U.S. Congress]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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