During a visit to the state of Arizona, Trump portrayed migrants in general as a threat. And he blamed his opponent Harris for crimes committed by migrants.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump blames his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris for the crimes of individual migrants and portrays immigrants as dangerous criminals. During an appearance at the US southern border with Mexico, Trump also blamed the vice president for the many illegal border crossings.
“Every day there is a new story of innocent Americans being tortured, raped, murdered and massacred by illegal immigrants that Kamala Harris released into our country,” Trump claimed in the state of Arizona.
During the event, relatives of victims also spoke, giving moving accounts of their relatives who had been killed and calling for stronger border security. Trump himself accused Harris of wanting to keep the US “open to criminals from all over the world so they can come here and rape and loot.”
While some areas of the United States where many immigrants live have seen an increase in crime, experts attribute this to complex sociopolitical circumstances. There is no evidence that immigrants are causing a crime wave, nor that this group commits significantly more crimes than natives. Surveys suggest that the opposite is the case.
Trump repeatedly blames Harris for what he sees as the failed migration policy of US President Joe Biden’s administration. Biden once gave his vice president the task of “combating the causes of flight.” “She loved the title, but she didn’t want to do the work because she’s lazy,” Trump said in Arizona.
The reform of migration legislation is one of the main topics in the election campaign. The situation at the border remains tense, and authorities are overwhelmed in many places. Biden recently tightened the asylum rules for migrants entering illegally from Mexico. The number of illegal border crossings fell – but from a record level.
Many people choose to cross the southern border to escape poverty, violence and political crises in their homeland. Many come from South American countries. Hundreds die every year on the dangerous route north, for example due to lack of water and heat stroke. Others fall victim to criminal gangs.
