“We must stop the invasion across our southern border”the Republican said at a campaign rally in Mesa, Arizona a little less than a month before the midterm elections.
The former president gave a accolade to his party’s candidate for state governor, Kari Lake, who faces this November in a close race in the border state with the Democrat, Katie Hobbs, in an election in which the Latino vote is crucial. Arizona has not had a Democratic governor since 2002.
During his speech, Trump invited a number of political figures to take the stage, including Lake and the president of the National Border Patrol Council, Brandon Judd. The latter gave his support to the former president, praising the tough immigration policies of the Republican.
“Immigration to the country reached its lowest point in 45 years during the Trump administration,” said the leader of the organization that represents Border Patrol agents.
Trump recalled in his speech one of his most controversial measures, known as Remain in Mexico (MPP), which forced people seeking asylum at the border to stay in Mexico while his case was studied.
The president assured that reached an agreement with the Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, for the border country to accept returned migrants. “I get along with him,” Trump said of the Mexican leader, “he’s a socialist by the way, but that’s fine.”
Government Biden gave an order to dismantle the MPP program in early Augustafter a legal battle promoted by states with Republican governments that opposed the intention of the Democratic president to end the measure imposed by Trump.
In addition to immigration issues, Trump also took advantage of his speech in Arizona to reject the investigation against him for allegedly have classified documents at his residence in Florida, although he assured that because of it his numbers in the polls have risen.
“I must be the only one who goes up in the polls after the FBI raid your home”said the Republican.
On August 8, the FBI conducted a search at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, during which seized some 11,000 official documentsincluding 100 classifieds, which the president did not return when he left the White House in January 2021.
As a result of a lawsuit filed by the former president, a Florida judge authorized an independent expert to review the seized materiala decision that prevented the Department of Justice from continuing to review the classified documents.