Former President Trump Brings 2024 Presidential Campaign to U.S.-Mexico Border
McAllen, Texas — Former President Donald Trump on Sunday is bringing his 2024 presidential campaign to the U.S.-Mexico border, where he is expected to tout the dramatic immigration restrictions he has vowed to enact if voters send him back to the White House.
Trump, the frontrunner to win the Republican presidential nomination, will be hosted by Texas' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, another fierce critic of President Biden's immigration and border policies. The campaign event will take place in Edinburgh, a small city in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, one of the busiest sectors for unlawful border crossings, and a region where Republicans have made inroads with its predominantly Hispanic communities in recent years.
In recent weeks, Trump has escalated his harsh rhetoric on immigration and the scope of his promises on the issue, which some of his advisers believe partially catapulted him to victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. In one recent interview, he claimed that migrants were "poisoning the blood of our country."
Trump Vows to Escalate Immigration Crackdown if Re-elected in 2024
During his previous presidency, Donald Trump implemented strict measures to curb both illegal and legal immigration, including reducing immigrant admissions, tightening access to the asylum system, constructing a significant amount of border wall, and terminating temporary deportation protections for numerous immigrants, including those who arrived in the U.S. as children.
If re-elected in 2024, Trump has promised to intensify his hardline immigration agenda. His proposed plans include executing the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, expanding travel bans, denying birthright citizenship to the American-born children of unauthorized immigrants, and rejecting legal immigrants based on their political beliefs. Furthermore, Trump has not ruled out the possibility of reinstating his controversial policy of separating migrant families, which was discontinued in 2018 due to widespread public outcry.
Texas Governor Abbott Takes Strong Stance on Immigration
Governor Abbott of Texas, who has yet to endorse a presidential candidate, has prioritized immigration as a key issue during his tenure. Texas has emerged as a prominent opponent to President Biden's migration and border policies.
Since Biden assumed office, Abbott has implemented various measures to address the situation. These include fortifying the banks of the Rio Grande with razor wire and river barriers, authorizing Texas troopers to arrest migrant adults on trespassing charges, and arranging for the transportation of tens of thousands of migrants to Democratic-led cities, primarily New York City and Chicago.
Immigration News
Abbott is also soon expected to sign what would be the harshest state immigration law in modern American history. The measure, known as SB4, will empower state law enforcement officials to arrest migrants on new illegal entry criminal charges, and allow state judges to issue deportation orders to suspected violators.
After it passed the Texas legislature earlier this month, the bill was denounced as draconian and unconstitutional by the Mexican government, Democratic lawmakers and the American Civil Liberties Union, which has promised to challenge the measure. SB4 will almost certainly also trigger another legal clash with the Biden administration, as immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility.
In recent days, Mr. Biden's reelection campaign has seized on Trump's 2024 immigration promises, casting them as radical and cruel in a public messaging campaign it hopes will galvanize Latinos to vote against the former president.
"Trump has been unapologetically open about the extreme, inhumane and fundamentally un-American policies that he would enact if he found his way back into the Oval Office," Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Mr. Biden's campaign manager, said on a press call on Saturday ahead of Trump's visit to the Texas border.
Biden faces his own political challenges on immigration, one of his worst-polling issues. His administration has been under growing pressure from Republicans and many Democrats to limit the entry of migrants along the southern border, where migrant apprehensions have reached record levels over the past three years.
Trump Campaign Spokesperson: Former President Gaining Support Among Latinos and Other Minority Voters
In a recent statement, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign highlighted that the former president is experiencing an increase in support among Latinos and other minority voters. This growing support is attributed to the belief that Trump is the only candidate capable of securing the border, with the spokesperson criticizing President Biden for the surge in migrant crossings.
