House speaker Paul Ryan says Trump's mass deportation plan is 'not happening'

House speaker Paul Ryan has issued assurances that President-elect Donald Trump's mass deportation plans will not come to fruition.

Trump had pledged to 'immediately deport' as many as three million undocumented immigrants following his inauguration, in plans Ryan said are unlikely to happen.

The house speaker, who has previously clashed with Trump, made the comments during a CNN Town Hall on 12 January, when he was asked by someone who had benefited from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) whether she and her daughter would be deported.

"I can see you love your daughter, you are a nice person who has a great future ahead of you, and I hope your future is here," he said in response to the question, The Hill reported.

"What we have to do is find a way to make sure that you can get right with the law, and we've got to do this in a good way so that the rug doesn't get pulled out from under you and your family gets separated."

Reminded that the president-elect had pledged to deport a large number of people on taking office, Ryan responded: "I know, I know. But I'm here to tell you, in Congress, it's not happening."

Ryan's comments appear to be in direct conflict with the pledges Trump has made, both during his campaign and since his election, on responding to the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US.

"I think we have to come up with a solution for the DACA kids. And that's something we in Congress and the Trump transition team are working on," Ryan added. "What's a good humane solution?"