Bill O'Reilly confronts Donald Trump on his mass-deportation plan: 'It could never happen today'
"That was brutal what they did to those people to kick them back to [Mexico]. The stuff they did was really brutal. It could never happen today," O'Reilly told the leading Republican presidential candidate.
Trump frequently touts former President Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower's mass-deportation program as a sign that his own plan is realistic.
During Tuesday's Fox Business Network Debate, Trump declared that the Eisenhower program "moved a million and a half illegal immigrants out of this country." Trump wants to deport every single person living in the US illegally through a humane "deportation force," and then allow the "wonderful cases" back into the country.
But that Eisenhower program has a dark history - including its name, "Operation Wetback," a derogatory slur. And according to CNN, the 1950s-era transfer process resulted in a number of Mexican migrants dying along the way.
Trump told O'Reilly that Eisenhower's mass-deportation effort actually had mixed reviews.
"I've heard it both ways. I've heard good reports. I've heard bad reports. We would do it in a very humane way," he said.
O'Reilly then confronted Trump over the legality of his plan.
"I back you on the wall," O'Reilly said. "But I also don't think you could deport these people, because the federal courts would stop you. And they would say each person that President Trump wants to deport has to have due process. So in the year 2050, you would finally get around to it."
"Bill, they're here illegally," Trump insisted.
"Doesn't matter. The Supreme Court would absolutely rule they all have to have due process because they're on American soil. You know that," O'Reilly said.
Trump shifted the conversation to automatic birthright citizenship, a topic he and O'Reilly have debated in the past. O'Reilly and most legal experts believe the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to everyone born on US soil, but Trump says they have it wrong.
"Do you remember when you said about the 'anchor babies,' that there's nothing you could do about it? And I said, 'Yes there is.' And I was right about it," Trump recalled.
"No you weren't," O'Reilly replied.
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