Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump took his campaign to the United States–Mexico border the day after he was criticized by Democrats on immigration.
Trump met with border officials and local law enforcement in Sierra Vista, Arizona, where he vowed to “make America safe again.”
The 45th president called for a “strong border” and compared his policy to that of the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“She loved the title but didn’t want to do the work,” Trump said, saying that Harris wants “open borders” and allowed 20 million illegal immigrants from 158 countries into the United States as vice president.
Harris allowed a “nation-wrecking border invasion,” Trump said.
Immigration Policy
Trump on Thursday promised to launch the largest-ever deportation effort if reelected to office.
The Republican nominee called for tougher penalties for “illegal immigrant criminals.” This includes a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence for those found guilty of human smuggling, a guaranteed life sentence for convicted child traffickers, the death penalty for sex trafficking of children or women, the death penalty for major drug dealers and traffickers, and the death penalty for illegal immigrants convicted of killing any law enforcement official.
Trump said that Harris supports free health care, mass amnesty, and legal citizenship for illegal immigrants, which he said would lead to the obliteration of Social Security and Medicare.
Democrats Attack Trump on Border
Trump’s visit to the southern border comes the day after Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar claimed in his speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) that Trump did not help local law enforcement in border towns.
“When Donald Trump comes down to Texas, stands next to officers in uniforms just like mine, he’s not there to help us,” Salazar said on Wednesday night at the DNC. “Don’t think that for a second. He is a self-serving man.”
Salazar said that Trump “killed” the bipartisan border bill that failed in the Senate earlier this year after Trump and other top Republicans pushed GOP lawmakers to reject it.
But Trump on Thursday responded to the criticism.
“[The bi-partisan border bill] was weak, ineffective, and would have allowed millions and millions of people to pour through,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. The bill would have allowed border security to deport illegal immigrants only in the event of a daily average of at least 4,000 “encounters” over a period of seven consecutive days and would become mandatory once they reached over 5,000 over the same period, or 8,500 over a single calendar day. The bill would have defined “encounters” to exclude apprehensions of unaccompanied minors.
Bexar also defended Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris over her record on immigration.
“She’s gone down to Mexico and worked to stop the traffickers. And when the traffickers didn’t stop, she put ‘em in jail,” Salazar said.
By contrast, Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said on Thursday during Trump’s visit that border-related crimes have cost his border cities a lot of money and that the federal government has not helped.
“My community is tired,” Dannels said.
The sheriff said that his deputies have endured more harm at the hands of cartel members under the Biden-Harris administration.
Angel Families
“Angel Families,” a term used to describe family members of those killed by illegal immigrants, attended Trump’s visit to the southern border.
Trump on Thursday acknowledged the parents of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old Maryland mother who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant from El Salvador while going for a run on a trail.
Her mother, Patty Morin, shared the story of her daughter’s deadly encounter.
“[Rachel] was brutally beaten, raped, and stuffed into a drain pipe,” Patty Morin said on Thursday.
She also encouraged voters to support Trump in the 2024 election, citing his immigration policies. “We close up this border and we put policies back in place that were there before.”
The mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray also attended Trump’s visit to the southern border. Two illegal immigrants from Venezuela have been charged with the girl’s murder in north Houston.
“My daughter was viciously taken away by two evil heinous monsters,” her mother Alexis said. “Please, please, [Trump] needs to be in office. We need to stop losing children, daughters, mothers, and sisters.”
Trump said he would enact strong immigration policy to honor the Angel families, who he said Harris has not acknowledged.
“As Kamala gives her convention speech tonight she will not mention [these victims’] names,” Trump said.
Harris on Thursday evening will deliver a speech at the DNC and also formally accept her party’s nomination for president.