Special Poll
Former President Trump took aim at Vice President Harris on immigration during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona on Thursday, highlighting tragic stories of individuals killed by migrants. His visit to this critical battleground state was marked by a backdrop of metal beams, symbolizing the unfinished sections of the border wall that he made a central issue during his first term.
In Cochise County, Trump recounted graphic incidents from Michigan, New York, Georgia, and Virginia, where crimes were allegedly committed by migrants who had entered the country illegally. He squarely blamed these tragedies on Harris and the Biden administration’s border policies.
During his speech, Trump invited family members of victims, including the families of Rachel Morin, who was killed in Maryland, and Jocelyn Nungaray, who was killed in Texas. In both cases, migrants who crossed the border illegally have been arrested.
“[Trump] needs to be in office, and we need better control and we need to stop this. We need to stop losing children, mothers, sisters, because now I get to grieve every single day,” said Alexis Nungaray, Jocelyn’s mother.
Trump has vowed to complete the border wall, enforce stricter criminal penalties for drug traffickers, and launch the largest deportation operation in history if he is reelected. He emphasized that his deportation plans would primarily depend on local law enforcement to apprehend those who enter the country illegally.
“She will never build the wall. She doesn’t want to build the wall,” Trump said of Harris. “If she changes her mind, it’s only because she wants to get elected, because who wouldn’t want to have a strong border.”
When President Biden took office in January 2021, he issued a directive to review all resources allocated for the construction of the southern border wall, halting further use of American taxpayer dollars for this purpose. In June, Biden introduced new policies restricting asylum eligibility for migrants entering the country between ports of entry unless they meet specific exceptions, along with a proclamation that limits when border officials screen migrants for asylum claims.
As a border state, Arizona is likely to see immigration play a significant role in its upcoming elections. Polls show Trump and Harris neck and neck, reflecting how Harris has closed the gap in polling since entering the race a month ago.
Trump’s campaign has aggressively targeted Harris on immigration, dubbing her the “border czar” in reference to her work addressing the root causes of migration from Central America. Republicans have pointed to record numbers of apprehensions at the southern border and highlighted crimes committed by individuals who entered the country illegally as a critique of Democratic policies.
Harris and her campaign have countered these attacks by blaming Trump for derailing a bipartisan border security proposal that was introduced earlier this year in the Senate. The proposal aimed to increase resources for law enforcement and limit the number of individuals crossing the border each day.
Democrats have also criticized Trump for his inflammatory rhetoric on immigration, condemning his remarks that immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the nation.
During his campaign stop, Trump, as he has done repeatedly this week, sometimes strayed from his intended policy message. He questioned FBI statistics showing a decrease in violent crime, claimed that Biden’s decision to end his campaign was a “coup,” and repeated a false claim about a conspiracy involving revised jobs numbers released this week.