On Sunday, Donald Trump takes his presidential campaign to the Mexican border, where he hopes to double down on the extreme immigration policies that defined his first term in office.
In recent weeks, the former president has escalated his campaign rhetoric, saying that undocumented migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and labeling his political opponents as “vermin.”
Trump planned to visit the Texas-Mexico border on Sunday with Governor Greg Abbott, a supporter of strict immigration policies.
The Texas legislature recently enacted legislation making illegal entry into the state a crime punishable by up to two years in prison—or up to 20 years if the person refuses to leave the country.
The law would give Texas authorities the authority to arrest anyone they suspected was in the state without appropriate papers, a power that critics worry will be abused.
Abbott has vowed to sign the measure into law.
The Trump campaign has made it clear that if re-elected, the real estate billionaire will launch his own crackdown on the undocumented, reportedly including massive detention camps and mass deportations.
Texas has been a solidly conservative bastion for Trump as he prepares for the 2024 elections, and he enjoys massive leads over his Republican opponents both there and nationally.
Trump and Abbott blame President Joe Biden for the present migrant crisis, which sees thousands of people fleeing crime, poverty, and violence in Latin American countries.
How Biden handles the crisis could play a major role in the 2024 election.
On the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in San Francisco on Friday, Trump met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and commended him for his “cooperation” on the migrant crisis.
In exchange, Lopez Obrador congratulated Biden for being the first recent president “who has not built walls.”
However, Mexico’s president slammed the Texas border plan, claiming it would result in family separation, discrimination, and racial profiling.
Rights groups have also sharply assailed the bill.
If enacted, the measure would be among the “most radical anti-immigrant bills ever passed by any state,” said Oni Blair, who heads the American Civil Liberties Union’s Texas chapter.