Why Trump kept going back to immigration again and again

Sept. 10, 2024 9:17 PM PT

WASHINGTON — The first question of Tuesday night’s debate between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris was about the economy, but Trump quickly pivoted to scapegoating immigrants.

Trump claimed migrants are “pouring” into the country from jails and mental institutions overseas and taking jobs from Black and Latino Americans.

Trump has seized on immigration as an issue that could win him back the White House, repeating anti-immigrant rhetoric and criticizing Harris — whom he refers to as the “border czar” — on the issue, though her official role was not border enforcement but to examine the root causes of migration from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

After being questioned directly about immigration, Trump returned to the topic again and again in the televised debate from National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

At 6:46 p.m., when asked about the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, he avoided talking about his supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol and said migrants who are killing people should be prosecuted.

At 6:52 p.m., when asked why he refused to accept that he had lost the 2020 election, he said the country needs borders and walls to stop migrants from coming in and illegally voting. (Election experts have repeatedly said such instances are rare.)

And when the 90-minute-plus debate finally ended, he brought up immigration again in his closing remarks. He said Harris has had 3½ years to fix the border. “Why hasn’t she done it?” he said.

Immigration is tricky issue for Harris, and polls have show many Americans believe Trump will more effective in controlling the border than Harris. She pivoted from directly answering a question about why the Biden administration waited until six months before the election to take action on the border after arrivals reached record levels.

Border arrests have fallen by more than 50% since the Biden administration implemented asylum restrictions in June. Stepped-up enforcement by Mexican immigration authorities and summer heat also contributed to lower numbers of arriving migrants.

Instead, Harris brought up her support for what she has called “toughest border control bill in decades,” which would have added 1,500 border agents and added resources to stem the flow of fentanyl and transnational gangs.

Trump pressured House Republicans to abandon support for that bipartisan border security agreement this year.

“This comes at a time when the people of our country actually need a leader who engages in solutions, who actually addresses the problems at hand,” Harris said. “But what we have in the former president is someone who would prefer to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”

Asked why he killed the bill, Trump also pivoted from a direct answer. “Our country is being lost,” he said, referring to migrants entering the U.S. “You’re going to end up in World War III.”

Trump falsely claimed that in Springfield, Ohio, immigrants are “eating the dogs. … They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

On Tuesday, GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) shared false claims that Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating pets in Springfield. Officials there say they have received no credible reports substantiating the rumors, which spread quickly on social media as they were amplified by public figures who criticized Harris’ record on the border.

Harris responded to Trump’s comment with a laugh: “Talk about extreme!”

Trump has vowed to launch “the largest deportation operation in American history” if reelected. Asked how he would deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, Trump did not explain. He said violent crime is down in other countries but “through the roof” in the U.S. because of migrants.

The FBI says violent crime is down in the U.S. Studies also show undocumented immigrants have lower crime rates than U.S.-born citizens. There also has been no evidence that foreign prisons are being emptied to send offenders to the United States. Trump has made that claim repeatedly, even though it has been debunked.

Offered a chance to respond on Trump’s claim about crime, Harris said: “It is important that we move forward, that we turn the page on this same old, tired rhetoric and address the needs of the American people,” such as support for small businesses, the housing shortage and grocery prices.

“Frankly, the American people are exhausted with this same, old, tired playbook,” she said.