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(SIERRA VISTA, Ariz.) – On the same day that Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver her official acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, former President Donald Trump will focus on the issue for which he has most criticized Harris: immigration.
Trump will spend Thursday at the U.S.-Mexico border in southern Arizona after spending the week traveling from one swing state to the next, focusing on policy-oriented speeches in states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Both Trump and his running mate JD Vance are participating in counter-programs to the DNC taking place in Chicago this week.
Harris is officially the Democratic nominee and is running against Trump. The former president is now focused on criticizing Harris’ immigration policies, blaming her for the situation at the border and insisting on his inaccurate label of her as a “border czar.”
The designation dates back to Harris’ appointment by President Joe Biden, who tasked her with overseeing and leading diplomatic discussions with Northern Triangle countries to address the root cause of migration. Republicans quickly zeroed in on the task, calling her “border czar” — even though Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is technically in charge of the border.
Harris defended her work at the border, and a television ad from her campaign said that as president she would “hire thousands of additional border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking.”
After touring the border, Trump will deliver his speech right next to the border wall he supports, using a long section of the wall as a backdrop.
It’s a nod to his campaign promise from his very first presidential campaign to build a wall along the US-Mexico border – and an emphasis on his current campaign promise to complete the wall. His administration has built some 720 kilometres of barriers, many of which were simply reinforcements of existing barriers.
Border security and immigration are once again one of Trump’s main issues in the election campaign. The former president has repeatedly used anti-immigration rhetoric during the election campaign, claiming that immigrants living in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country” and taking away Americans’ jobs.
His derogatory comments about immigrants living in the country without authorization have increased in recent months. Trump has referred to migrants crossing the border as violent criminals and pointed to stories of crimes committed by them, even though analyses of crime statistics suggest that U.S. citizens commit crimes more often than illegal immigrants.
“Compared to undocumented immigrants, U.S.-born citizens are more than twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times as likely to be arrested for drug offenses, and more than four times as likely to be arrested for property crimes,” according to a 2020 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
On Wednesday, Trump suggested at his campaign rally in Asheboro, North Carolina, that there were migrants in the country illegally.
“We probably have a few here. Welcome, welcome, but we probably have a few here, and (Harris is) all for it,” Trump joked as the crowd responded by chanting “Build that wall.”
Throughout the week, Trump tried to stick to his guns on core issues of the economy, crime and national security, while his allies and supporters urged Trump to focus on his potential second-term agenda rather than launching personal attacks.
In his speeches this week, Trump continually criticized DNC speakers, specifically targeting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, calling Barack Obama’s tone “nasty.”
“Did you see Barack Hussein Obama last night? He made reference to your president. And Michelle does too. You always say please stick to politics, don’t get personal. But these people are getting personal all night. Do I still have to stick to politics?”
“I try to be nice to people, you know, but it’s a little harsh when they get personal,” Trump complained.
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