--- description: "Imagine the images on the screens flashed around the world as we were dragging parents away from their children" Obama told ABC News title: Obama Says Donald Trump's Immigration Plan Is Not 'Realistic' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9dbfeeb30c19ee86/698870da0a4a22517f9c703d/496013428.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Obama Says Donald Trump's Immigration Plan Is Not 'Realistic' by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 13, 2015 1:10 AM CUT  U.S. President Barack Obama pauses while speaking in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C. U.S. President Barack Obama pauses while speaking in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C.Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 13, 2015 1:10 AM CUT President Obama said Thursday that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants unrealistic and is “not where we are as Americans.” Trump has said he would use a “[deportation force](http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/11/politics/donald-trump-deportation-force-debate-immigration/ "undefined")” to remove undocumented immigrants from the country. In an interview with [ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-obama-donald-trumps-immigration-plan-unrealistic/story?id=35135602 "undefined")’ George Stephanopoulos, Obama said he has “no idea where Mr. Trump thinks the money is gonna come from” to deport over 11 million people from the country, saying it would take “hundreds of billions of dollars” to do so. What’s more, Obama said the idea is morally off-putting. “Imagine the images on the screens flashed around the world as we were dragging parents away from their children and putting in what, detention centers, and then sending them out,” Obama said Thursday. “Nobody thinks that is realistic. But more importantly, that’s not where we are as Americans.” President Obama said government leaders should not play into the anti-immigrant sentiment that persists in pockets of the country, a sentiment that he believes has led many Americans to support Trump’s plan. “We don’t want, I think, a President or any person in a position of leadership to play on those kinds of fears,” Obama said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4111201/obama-trump-immigration-not-realistic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4111201/obama-trump-immigration-not-realistic/"},"headline":"President Obama Says Donald Trump's Immigration Plan Is Not 'Realistic'","datePublished":"2015-11-13T01:10:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:35:07.380Z","description":"\"Imagine the images on the screens flashed around the world as we were dragging parents away from their children,\" Obama told ABC News","url":"https://time.com/4111201/obama-trump-immigration-not-realistic/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","Obama","Immigration","President Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9dbfeeb30c19ee86/698870da0a4a22517f9c703d/496013428.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9dbfeeb30c19ee86/698870da0a4a22517f9c703d/496013428.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Barack Obama Rejects TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL Pipeline","caption":"President Barack Obama Rejects TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL Pipeline","creditText":"Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4111201/obama-trump-immigration-not-realistic/","name":"President Obama Says Donald Trump's Immigration Plan Is Not 'Realistic'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump","description":"Donald Trump's Most Ridiculous Quotes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7MzTpVq2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-23T21:38:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7MzTpVq2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4111201/obama-trump-immigration-not-realistic/","duration":"PT1M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4111201/obama-trump-immigration-not-realistic/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```