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Trump says he plans to give immigration speech in Arizona

Posted at 7:45 PM, Aug 28, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-29 15:15:09-04

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump announced Sunday he'll be making a speech on illegal immigration on Wednesday in Arizona, after a week of speculation that he might be softening his hard-line promise to deport 11 million people living in the United States illegally.

The immigration policy speech was initially set for last Thursday in Colorado, but it was pushed back as Trump and his team wrestled over the details of what he would propose. There has been debate within his campaign about immigrants who haven't committed crimes beyond their immigration offenses.

The candidate's shifting stance hasn't made it easy for top supporters and advisers, from his running mate on down, to defend him or explain some campaign positions. Across the Sunday news shows, a parade of Trump stand-ins, led by vice presidential nominee Mike Pence, couldn't say whether Trump was sticking with or changing a central promise to use a "deportation force" to expel immigrants here illegally.

The announcement Sunday came after Trump said in a tweet late Friday afternoon that he'll be in Phoenix on Aug. 31. The message came about an hour after his Arizona campaign director read a statement saying the event planned for the Hyatt Regency hotel in Phoenix had been canceled.