President Donald Trump has said his administration's deportation drive has not put the same pressure on farm workers and hotel staff as it has on violent criminals, while insisting that his policy has not changed and there will be no amnesty.

Mr Trump made the comments during a phone call to C-SPAN on Monday night, when he was asked whether law-abiding people who pay taxes and have lived in the United States for a long time should be deported alongside migrants who have committed serious offences.

"We certainly haven't put the same push on them as we have on the murderers or the drug dealers," Mr Trump said, according to Fox News. "So we have not put the same pressure, obviously. And, you know, we call them the worst of the worst. We haven't put the same pressure on waitresses and on farm workers, etc. Not even close."

Hotel and farm workers singled out

The president gave the example of a woman working in a hotel as a maid, cleaner or waitress, saying it was tough when such workers were removed from the country. His remarks were aimed at long-term workers in farming, hospitality and other service jobs, a group whose treatment has become a sensitive issue for employers in those industries.

The call came a day after Mr Trump gave his first interview since last week's midterm elections, in which Republicans lost majorities in both chambers of Congress. In the 60 Minutes interview, broadcast on Sunday, he said immigration enforcement may have been "too tough" in pursuing longtime workers, and said he would "love to do something on immigration" with Democrats.

He has since floated the idea of working with Democrats on a deal for some immigrants who have lived illegally in the United States for more than a decade. No details of any such deal, such as who would qualify or when it might happen, have been published, and no legislation has been put forward.

No amnesty, president insists

At a White House press briefing earlier on Monday, Mr Trump drew a line under the idea, saying: "There won't be amnesty," and that his policy "hasn't changed." The two sets of remarks leave the scope of any future deal unclear: the president has signalled openness to talks about longtime residents, while ruling out a general amnesty.

Immigration was a central issue in the midterm campaign, and the president is now in the lame-duck final stretch of his presidency, with Democrats set to take control of Congress in January. Any immigration deal would need support from both parties, and from a Congress that will soon be under Democratic control.

For the farm and hospitality workers at the centre of the debate, the president's words offer reassurance but no change in the law. Enforcement policy remains as it is, and the White House has not announced any new guidance to immigration officers.