President Donald Trump said Democrats want to allow troves of illegal immigrants into the U.S. so they can secure more votes down the line.
‘They [Democrats] will strip Americans of their Constitutional rights while flooding the country with illegal immigrants in the hopes it will expand their political base and they’ll get votes someplace down the future. That’s what it’s about,’ Trump said during the official launch of his 2020 reelection campaign in Orlando, Florida Tuesday night.
His remarks were met with chants of, ‘Build that wall,’ from the thousands of supporters in the audience.
The president said during his more than hour long speech that 400 miles of his promised border wall have already been built, touting that he changed the design to make it ‘stronger, bigger, better and cheaper’ since Democrats won’t agree to allocate more federal money for the barrier.
President Donald Trump told supporters at a rally Tuesday night that Democrats want open borders because illegal immigrants would vote for them in future elections
He also told a crowd of thousands during his official 2020 campaign launch in Orlando, Florida that his administration has already overseen 400 miles of border wall construction
Immediately following the rally, Trump tweeted some highlights from his remarks, including accusing Democrats of being ‘more extreme’ on border security than any other issue
‘Can you image – can you imagine – those caravans without having the barriers and walls that we’ve already put up and that are up?’ Trump audience gathered at the Amway Center. ‘This country would be a mess like you wouldn’t believe.’
Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border earlier this year as thousands of Central American migrants made their way through Mexico to the U.S. to seek asylum or attempt to cross illegally.
He claimed the declaration was due to the increase in crime, illegal immigration, human trafficking and drug smuggling at the southern border due to lax laws and lack of a physical barrier.
Millions of Defense Department funding has been diverted to pay for portions of the wall after Democrats could not reach a spending bill agreement with the president that included money for the border wall.
It appeared the vast majority of the 20,000 seats in the central Florida venue, home to the NBA’s Orlando Magic, were filled, including box seats and arena floor standing room. Some began to filter out as the president’s speech approach the hour-and-a-half mark.
Immediately following his launch, the president reiterated some of his immigration talking points on Twitter, including accusing Democrats of being ‘more extreme’ on immigration and border security than any other issue.
‘On no issue are Democrats more extreme – and more depraved – than when it comes to Border Security,’ Trump tweeted, an almost word-for-word iteration of what he said at the rally. ‘The Democrat Agenda of open borders is morally reprehensible. It is the great betrayal of the American Middle Class and our Country as a whole!’
He also attacked Democrats for not defending agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol
While announcing he is running for reelection, Trump said no one should be allowed to run for president that supports sanctuary cities, which have become safe havens for illegal immigrants under Trump’s zero tolerance immigration policies
He also said that all 24 Democratic candidates running in the party’s presidential primary are cowards for not defending Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents.
‘In the ultimate act of moral cowardice, not one Democrat Candidate for president – not a single one – has stood up to defend the incredible men and women of ICE and Border Patrol. They don’t have the character, the virtue, or the spine!’ he tweeted.
In his speech he claimed “no one who supports sanctuary cities should be allowed to run for President of the United States.”
Self-proclaimed sanctuary cities are jurisdictions that have decided not to comply with federal law enforcement in handing over information on illegal immigrants when it is know they are working and residing in the area.
The night before his 2020 campaign kickoff, Trump also took to Twitter to announce that ICE would begin deporting millions of illegal border crossers next week – something he promised during his 2016 campaign would happen when he took office.
‘Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States,’ Trump posted to Twitter Monday night. ‘They will be removed as fast as they come in.’
He also touted the deal he struck with Mexico earlier this month. He claimed the neighboring country’s government agreed to help with the illegal immigration crisis at the southern border in order to divert the Trump administration from imposing tariffs on Mexican imports.
He threatened to implement a 5 per cent tax on Mexican goods by June 10 if the Mexican government did not assist in stopping immigrants from flowing through their country to the U.S.
Trump said the border crisis, which he deemed a national emergency earlier this year, would be resolved if congressional Democrats did anything to help resolve the issues there, including agreeing to fund the construction of the border barrier.
The Trump administration has diverted millions of Defense Department funding for border wall construction after failing to reach a spending agreement with Democrats that included money for the physical barrier
The night before the launch, Trump said ICE would be deporting millions of illegal immigrants in the next week – a promise he made during the 2016 campaign
‘Mexico, using their strong immigration laws, is doing a very good job of stopping people long before they get to our Southern Border,’ Trump lauded. ‘Guatemala is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement. The only ones who won’t do anything are the Democrats in Congress. They must vote to get rid of the loopholes, and fix asylum! If so, Border Crisis will end quickly!’
In November 2016, after he was elected to office but before he was inaugurated, Trump told ’60 Minutes’ he would immediately deport 2 to 3 million undocumented immigratns with ‘criminal records’ when he took office.
‘What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably 2 million, it could be even 3 million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate,’ then president-elect Trump said. ‘But we’re getting them out of our country. They’re here illegally.’
It’s no coincidence the president has reupped those promises just one night before launching his 2020 campaign.
Democrats have accused the Trump administration of treating illegal immigrants cruelly.
He implemented a zero-tolerance policy that resulted in an influx of children being separated from their parents when crossing the border illegally.
Freshman Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused the president and his administration of treating illegal immigrants like Jews were treated by Nazi’s in World War II and claimed Trump is a fascist.
‘The United States is running concentration camps on our southern border, and that is exactly what they are. They are concentration camps,’ Ocasio-Cortez told her followers during an Instagram live video on Monday night.
‘This is a crisis on if American will remain America,’ the progressive Democrat representing New York said, ‘or if we are losing to an authoritarian and fascist presidency.’
‘I don’t use those words lightly. I don’t use those words to just throw bombs,’ Ocasio-Cortez continued. ‘I use that word because that is what an administration that creates concentration camps is.’