Article Summary –
Former President Donald Trump has criticized current President Joe Biden over his US-Mexico border policies and has stoked fears about migrants, despite no substantial evidence indicating a connection between immigration and crime. Trump referenced the murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley by an undocumented immigrant as he advocated for stricter immigration policies. Trump also praised Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s controversial security initiative and criticized Biden’s stance on border control.
Trump Stirs Concern Over Migrants, Criticizes Biden’s Border Policies
On Thursday, former President Donald Trump expressed concerns about migrants entering the United States, criticizing President Joe Biden’s border policies while at the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Trump tried to connect crime in the US to increased immigration, a phenomenon he refers to as “migrant crime”. However, there is scant evidence supporting the connection between immigration and crime. Many scholars argue immigrants are, in fact, less likely to engage in criminal activities.
The former president recently conversed with the parents of 22-year-old Laken Riley, a University of Georgia student found dead on campus. Trump repeatedly mentions Riley’s death to support his strict immigration policies, as her suspected killer is an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela.
“These are the people that are coming into our country, and they’re coming from jails and they’re coming from prisons and they’re coming from mental institutions and they’re coming from insane asylums and they’re terrorists. They’re being led into our country. And it’s horrible,” Trump stated, echoing his usual anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Trump lauded Texas Governor Greg Abbott for his contentious security initiative. The US Supreme Court recently permitted US Border Patrol agents to remove razor wire deployed by Abbott’s initiative at the US-Mexico border, pending the state’s legal challenge to the practice.
Trump’s visit to the border occurred shortly after he undermined a bipartisan border bill, using it as an opportunity to campaign against Biden’s purported weakness on border issues.
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