By Tim Reid and Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump pledged on Sunday to rent an additional 10,000 border patrol brokers if he’s reelected as president, as he intensifies his assaults on Kamala Harris on the difficulty of immigration.
The Republican presidential candidate mentioned he would meet the objective by asking the U.S. Congress to fund a ten% pay rise for border patrol brokers and a $10,000 retention and signing bonus, at a rally within the border state of Arizona, an election battleground.
Flanked on stage by leaders of the Border Patrol union, who’ve endorsed Trump, the previous president mentioned: “This will ensure that we can hire and keep the Border Patrol agents that we need.”
Trump is locked in a detailed race with Democratic Vice President Harris forward of the Nov. 5 election. Unlawful immigration is a high voter concern, and Trump is seen by a majority of voters because the particular person greatest capable of deal with it, opinion polls present.
Trump helped kill a bipartisan border safety invoice earlier this yr that will have funded the hiring of 1,500 additional customs and border patrol brokers, and an extra 1,600 asylum officers.
There are at present roughly 20,000 U.S. border patrol officers.
Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, and President Joe Biden have each blasted Trump for his position in pressuring congressional Republicans to kill the bipartisan border safety invoice, accusing him of sabotaging it for political acquire.
Some 7 million migrants have been arrested crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally throughout Biden’s administration, in accordance with authorities knowledge, a document excessive quantity that has fueled criticism of Harris and Biden from Trump and fellow Republicans.
Harris has outlined her plans to repair “our broken immigration system” whereas accusing Trump of “fanning the flames of fear and division” over the affect of immigrants on American life.
Harris has additionally known as for tighter asylum restrictions and vowed to make a “top priority” of stopping the lethal opioid fentanyl from coming into the US.
On Friday Trump known as for the loss of life penalty for “any migrant” who kills a U.S. citizen.
Trump has noticeably hardened his anti-immigration rhetoric within the last weeks of the marketing campaign. Final month he known as immigrants within the U.S. illegally who commit violent crimes “monsters,” “stone-cold killers” and “vile animals.”
Research typically discover there is no such thing as a proof immigrants commit crimes at the next charge than native-born People and critics say Trump’s rhetoric reinforces racist tropes.
