Former President Donald Trump escalated his campaign rhetoric on Tuesday, delivering a fiery speech targeting Vice President Kamala Harris’s handling of the border crisis. Trump, a Republican presidential nominee, held an event in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where he met with mothers who lost loved ones to alleged crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
Trump painted a stark picture of a border overwhelmed by illegal crossings and rampant crime, directly blaming Harris, who he labeled as President Biden’s ‘border czar.’ He claimed Harris had failed to take any meaningful action to address the crisis, even neglecting to make a single phone call to Border Patrol agents during her tenure.
“She doesn’t want to use that term, but, let’s say, we’ll just use different terms — she was responsible for the borders. Totally responsible,” Trump stated, adding, “She never made one call to Border Patrol.”
He further underscored his claims by highlighting the endorsement of the National Border Patrol Council, who he said had declared him “the best president we’ve ever had and the best president by far on the border.” In contrast, they deemed Harris “the worst person ever to work with them on the border,” according to Trump.
The centerpiece of Trump’s address was the tragic story of Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl allegedly murdered by two illegal immigrants. Trump introduced Alexis Nungaray, Jocelyn’s mother, who gave an emotional account of her daughter’s death and her belief that stricter border policies could have prevented the tragedy.
“If we had better border policies and not open borders and not these catch and release policies, I truly believe this all could have been prevented,” Nungaray stated, directly accusing Harris of failing her and her daughter.
Trump used this harrowing narrative to bolster his own proposed solutions, including a “mass deportation” operation and the enactment of a ten-year prison sentence for any illegal immigrant who returns to the U.S. He also proposed seeking the death penalty for any migrant who murders an American citizen or law enforcement officer.
The event was held ahead of Trump’s trip to Pennsylvania, where he will participate in a roundtable discussion and a rally. Meanwhile, Harris is scheduled to deliver her closing message to voters in Washington, D.C.
This latest salvo in the campaign serves as a stark reminder of the deeply divisive issue of immigration, which has been a central theme in the 2024 presidential election. Trump’s strong stance on the border and his criticism of Harris’s record are likely to further polarize public opinion on this critical issue.
