Actually, it was much more recently that Donnie made his current position clear.
Here are a couple of excerpts of interviews with Donnie from February 2016:
On Friday's broadcast of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Trump said he was "a very big believer in the merit system" to "work something out" for "some of these people have been here, they've done a good job. You know, in some cases, sadly, they've been living under the shadows."
Nearly all journalists tend to think the most important immigration question is what should be done with the millions of illegal immigrants already in this country. I hope candidates will learn to say, "That's the wrong question. The right question is what can we do to minimize the harm that having a large illegal population does to the wages of American workers."
But Trump answered:
Well, the first thing we do is take the bad ones, of which there are, unfortunately, quite a few. We take the bad ones, and get them the hell out. . . . We have to get the bad ones out. Then the other ones -- and I'm a very big believer in merit system. I have to tell you. Because some of these people have been here, they've done a good job. You know, in some cases, sadly, they've been living under the shadows, etc. etc. We have to do something. So, whether it's merit or whether it's whatever, but I'm a believer in the merit system. If somebody's been outstanding, we try and work something out. But before we do anything, Joe, we have to secure the border...." Those comments are in line with an earlier report from TMZ.com:
Donald Trump says if he's elected president, he'd let undocumented workers who are productive stay in the United States, but if they just sponge off the system and don't contribute ... he'd have them deported. . . . Trump tells TMZ he'd create a "system of merit," saying people here illegally should have "a road to legal status" if they work hard and contribute to the country. . . . Trump also says no one really knows how many people are in the U.S. illegally -- he cites different stats that show the figure is somewhere between 11 and 30 million. Trumps says it's unrealistic and inhumane to attempt to deport all of them. Thus, the merit system. He says many undocumented workers are "hardworking people" who deserve a chance to live the American dream.
I hope deporting 12 million people wasn't a big issue you were counting on with Donnie. Of course, give it 24 hours. He'll probably change his position again.
Thaaaaaaat’s from July 2015.
A simple Google search of various key phrases will bring that up.
Not that it really matters to the argument. But what else can I say to this argument? There is no A-to-B here. It’s going, “Rubio was a bad candidate because of Gang of 8.” Followed by, “I HATE YOU DONALD TRUMP! WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
But I’m talking about this because you’re mocking me saying that I got the dates wrong, when in fact I got the article date correct and you’re the one who’s wrong.
Oh, and I’m changing my mind; you’re definitely a paid shill. We were talking about Rubio and you went throwing a tantrum about what Trump said 10 months ago.
Twit.