So much for even the idea of “self-deportion.” The GOP’s front runner — who continues to gain stem and defy the predictions made by and political obituaries written by pundits — is saying the U.S. must be cleared of all undocumented immigrants. Donald Trump made the blunt statement to Chuck Todd’s in a “Meet the Press interview”:

Donald Trump would reverse President Obama’s executive orders on immigration and deport all undocumented immigrants from the U.S. as president, he said in an exclusive interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd.

“We’re going to keep the families together, but they have to go,” he said in the interview, which will air in full on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this Sunday.

Pressed on what he’d do if the immigrants in question had nowhere to return to, Trump reiterated: “They have to go.”

“We will work with them. They have to go. Chuck, we either have a country, or we don’t have a country,” he said.

Speaking on Trump’s gilded private plane as it idled on a runway in Des Moines, Iowa, the real-estate mogul and Republican presidential frontrunner offered the first outlines of the immigration policy proposals he’d implement from the Oval Office.

Trump said, to begin, “we have to” rescind Obama’s executive order offering those brought to the U.S. illegally as children — known as DREAMers — protection from deportation, as well as Obama’s unilateral move to delay deportation for their families as well.

“We have to make a whole new set of standards” for those immigrating to the US.

This hardline should further endear him to the Republicsn Party’s political base and the all-important and supremely powerful radio and conservative talk show hosts. It should also resonate with that part of the United States electorate that wants a quick easy fix to the undocumented immigrants problem, particularly those who’ve never even met one and are willing to buy into political rhetoric (which includes Trumps) that paint them as criminals and rapists.

But some polls also strongly suggest this line would not resonate with many Americans. For instance, a June Pew Research Center poll, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, which can’t be dismissed as “the liberal media.”

As immigration emerges as a major issue ahead of the 2016 presidential race, a new poll found broad public support for legalizing people who are in the U.S. unlawfully. But other attitudes about immigration are mixed, according to the survey by the independent Pew Research Center.

More than seven out of 10, or 72%, of those polled believe illegal immigrants in the U.S. should be allowed to remain here, if they meet certain conditions. That result is consistent with Pew polls in the past two years that also found strong support for legalization across political party lines.

Note that there is a partisan divide.

About 11 million immigrants, overwhelmingly from Latin America, are living in the U.S. illegally.

“You see a continuous majority of the public in recent years saying undocumented immigrants should be able to stay, if certain conditions are met,” said Carroll Doherty, Pew’s director of political research.

He noted that the current level constitutes “a pretty high point.”

Support for legalization had dipped slightly last year, to 68%, as thousands of children illegally crossed the southwest border into the U.S., many of them fleeing gang violence in Central America.

A path to citizenship has been central to the debate on an overhaul of immigration laws, an effort that has stalled in Congress. Lawmakers have disagreed about whether immigrants here illegally should be allowed to apply for green cards, which eventually could be converted into citizenship, or whether they should become part of a new class of legal residents not entitled to citizenship.

Among those polled by Pew, more than four out of 10 said the immigrants should be allowed to apply for citizenship and about a quarter said they should be eligible only for permanent residency. Another 27% said there should be no legalization.

Their graph:

Trump’s position will likely put the pressure on other candidates to fully articulate their stand. Most likely? It’ll be applauded by Trumpistas, many conservative bloggers, and radio and cable talk show hosts — and force other candidates to harden their stand.

Biggest impact? The GOP more than ever seems to be actively working to alienate itself from Hispanic voters. Even with Republican legislatures’ voter suppression voter ID laws that could keep many Latino (and black) voters out, look for not just many younger Hispanic voters but many organizations that deal with or advocate for Hispanics to work harder than ever to ensure the Republican nominee doesn’t get Latino votes in 2015. Yes, there may be some Republican conservative Hispanics and columnists out there who say otherwise, but the bulk of the vote looks like it’s being ask to take hike by a party.

Why blame the party? If Trump’s comments are not challenged by some of his competitors, it means his comments are the new face of the GOP.

It’s a political combover that won’t hide the underlying bald truth about the GOP’s actual policy position on immigration as preferred by the base an conservative media (versus the aspirations of the party’s establishment) and the GOP’s actual unwillingness to woo Hispanic voters.

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JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.

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