On a dirt road below the shrub-dotted hills of Arizona, Donald Trump used a stretch of wall and a pile of steel beams on Thursday to draw a visual contrast between his approach to securing the border and that of his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“To my right is what we call Trump wall. This was wall that was built under President Trump,” said Paul Perez, the president of the Border Patrol union. “To my left, we have what we call Kamala wall. It’s just sitting there doing nothing, lying down.”
Trump’s visit was the fourth in a series of events held in battleground states this week to try to draw the focus away from Democrats’ celebration of Harris’ presidential nomination in Chicago. Speakers at the convention Wednesday night accused Trump of using the border to stir up his base by demonizing immigrants.
Trump brought along mothers of children killed in cases where the suspects are immigrants in the country illegally. Trump frequently highlights attacks involving immigrants, though studies have found that people living in the U.S. illegally are less likely than native-born Americans to have been arrested for violent, drug and property crimes.
“We’re losing very innocent people to heinous crimes,” said Alexis Nungaray, the mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was strangled to death in Houston in June.
At the Arizona event, snipers stood nearby at an elevated position, a day after Trump held his first outdoor rally since an assassination attempt last month. Security forces were also visible on the Mexican side of the border.
“What Biden and Kamala have done to the families here with me and so many others, thousands and thousands of others, not only killed, but also really badly hurt, badly hurt to a point where they’ll never lead a normal life again. It’s shameful, and it’s evil,” Trump said.
The Biden administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the wall materials at the site during the visit.
Elected Democratic officials argued Wednesday at the convention that their party is the one offering real leadership on border issues.
Trump “and his Republican imitators see the border and immigration as a political opportunity to exploit instead of an issue to address,” said Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas, whose district includes the border city of El Paso.
Sen. Christopher S. Murphy (D-Conn.) spoke at the convention after a video was played highlighting Republican opposition to a bipartisan border deal earlier this year. Murphy was the top Democrat involved in negotiating the proposal with Republican senators and said the bill would have had unanimous support if it weren’t for Trump.
Trump has spent the week campaigning across battleground states. He traveled to Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina and will hold events in Las Vegas and the Phoenix suburb of Glendale on Friday. His running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, spoke at the same location near the border a few weeks ago.
Cooper and Gomez Licon write for the Associated Press. Cooper reported from Sierra Vista and Gomez Licon from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. AP writer Farnoush Amiri in Chicago contributed to this report.