Trump says deportations of immigrants could be finished in two years

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump this week offered more specificity on his plan to handle illegal immigration, floating a two-year benchmark for deportations. 

Trump said it would take 18-24 months to get the estimated 12 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally out of the country.

“We have to get them out,” Trump said on a conference call with Alabama Republicans. “If we have wonderful cases, they can come back in but they have to come back in legally.”

The businessman said that goal could be met with “really good management,” when asked on an Alabama Republican Party call whether immigrants could be deported in five to 10 years.

Trump outlined his plan to tackle illegal immigration in a six-page proposal released last month, and has repeatedly said on the campaign trail that illegal immigrants “have to go.”