Forssell told Swedish public broadcaster SR that the fact that teenagers are currently being ordered to leave Sweden only months before they are due to graduate, was a "glitch in the system" to which the government hoped to find a solution.
"That's why we requested a proposal that we are now looking at and working on that you could say actually gives that group more possibilities to finish upper secondary school," he said. "At some point in life, you are actually an adult and have your own responsibilities. But it has to be reasonable and fair."
Speaking on SR's flagship Saturday interview slot, Forssell conceded that the problem of teen deportations, which has been heavily covered in the Swedish media over the past few weeks, was the result of "a problem in the legislation".
"Of course, I feel emotional, just like everyone else who reads about these cases," he said. "They've been in Sweden a while. These are young people who have learned Swedish, who go to upper secondary school and who have done everything right. It's obvious that there's a problem with the legislation."
Forssell also sought to distance the government from the problem. It stemmed from emergency legislation passed in 2016, in the wake of the refugee crisis and which was then made permanent in the 2021 immigration act, he said, noting that the act "was backed by all parties".
While Forssell didn't go into detail, he is likely to be referring a proposal made by the recent inquiry on tighter rules for family reunion, on how to the existing "exceptionally distressing circumstances" safety clause less restrictive.
The inquiry suggested a new formulation: "atypical and distressing circumstances". It is unclear, however, whether this can be used to allow teenagers to graduate, as, far from being atypical, the issue applies to a significant proportion of teen deportation cases.
READ ALSO: What are the proposed solutions to the teen deportation issue?
In the interview, Forssell also discussed a proposal to revoke over 100,000 existing permanent residencies, reiterating that, according to the inquiry that proposed it, rescinding residency permits through retroactive legislation was "not forbidden" in Swedish law.
He explained that Sweden stood out internationally in the number of people living in the country on the basis of permanent residency, saying the inquiry aimed to redress this by pushing them towards citizenship, Long Term Residence or temporary residency.
He refused to commit, however, to pushing ahead with the proposal, which has been harshly criticised by Sweden's courts and a long list of other important government agencies.
The government, he said, had already fulfilled its commitment under the Tidö Agreement with the far-right Sweden Democrats, as the government parties agreed only to hold an inquiry into the proposal, not to submit a bill to parliament enacting its conclusions.
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