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In a town hall event hosted by CNN's Jake Tapper Thursday evening, House Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed the idea that a federal deportation force would scour the country to remove illegal immigrants en masse.

"The government has information about her now," Tapper said, referencing a woman in the audience who has been able to stay in the U.S. via the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program. "Will you introduce legislation to block it being used to deport her?"

"Everybody thinks that there's some deportation force that's being assembled," Ryan answered. "That's not happening." When Tapper pushed back, noting President-elect Donald Trump has used the exact phrase "deportation force," Ryan conceded his point. "But," he said with a laugh, "I'm here to tell you, in Congress, it's not happening."

Watch Ryan's comments below, including his further insistence that President Trump will not be able to write his own immigration law. Bonnie Kristian