White House touts aggressive immigration crackdown in Trump’s first 100 days

Geoff Bennett:

On the eve of the first 100 days of President Trump's second term, the White House put the spotlight on the president's tough stance on immigration.

Amna Nawaz:

But new poll numbers out this week also give the White House a tough pill to swallow, showing a majority of Americans are not happy with how he's handling the job so far.

Lisa Desjardins starts off our coverage.

Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary:

In just under 100 days, 99 now, to be exact…

Lisa Desjardins:

Just one day from the milestone 100th day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt brought in a guest on a signature Trump issue, border czar Tom Homan.

Tom Homan, White House Border Czar:

If you're an illegal alien in the United States, this message is for you. You cannot hide from ICE.

Lisa Desjardins:

The White House touted the administration's aggressive spike in arrests of immigrants suspected of being in the United States illegally, including two massive recent federal raids, more than 100 immigrants taken into custody at a Colorado nightclub this weekend and nearly 800 arrested in Florida over four days last week.

That's paired with more executive orders from President Trump, including one that directs the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to publish a list of so-called sanctuary cities, more efforts to pressure those jurisdictions to cooperate with federal enforcement.

But the number of deportations remain below last year's levels and below the administration's goals.

Tom Homan:

Am I happy when the numbers are good? But I read the media, oh, ICE, the deportations are behind Biden administration. Why? Because they counted border removals. We don't have 10.5 million people crossing the border. We don't have border removals.

Lisa Desjardins:

President Trump has also suffered lower poll numbers. The latest PBS/NPR/Marist poll to be released tomorrow shows 42 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing, while 53 percent disapprove. That's among the lowest approval ratings for a president's first 100 days.

As the administration's immigration crackdown escalates, so too has the backlash, including for the recent deportations of three U.S. citizen children, along with their mothers, who were in the country illegally.

Tom Homan:

What we did is remove children with their mothers who requested the children depart with them. This was a parental decision. If we didn't do it, the story today would be, Trump administration separating families again. No, we're keeping families together.

Lisa Desjardins:

For his part, President Trump told his naysayers in an "Atlantic" magazine interview published today that "I run the country and the world" in this second term in office.

Democrats see something different. House Leader Hakeem Jeffries:

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries(D-NY):

First 100 days of the Trump administration have been characterized by chaos, cruelty and corruption. America is better than this. We should be able to do better for the American people.

Lisa Desjardins:

Looking ahead to tomorrow, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will take the White House Briefing Room podium to discuss the president's other top signature issues, trade and the economy.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Lisa Desjardins.