LAS VEGAS– Former President Donald Trump praised Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday for not allowing the Biden administration to remove barbed wire in a popular corridor for migrants entering the United States illegally in a growing feud over immigration.
In a speech focused primarily on border security, Trump said Texas should have full support in its measures to deter migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border. The state is restricting the U.S. Border Patrol after the Supreme Court allowed those federal agents to cut or remove the sharp metal barrier.
“When I’m president, instead of trying to send a restraining order to Texas, I’m going to send them reinforcements,” Trump told a crowd of supporters in Las Vegas, where he rallied on a football field covered in a predominantly Latino neighborhood. “Instead of fighting the Border States, I will use all the resources and authority of the American President to defend the United States of America from this horrible invasion that is taking place right now. »
Trump largely avoided talking about Friday’s jury verdict in a libel case, ordering him to pay an additional $83.3 million to columnist E. Jean Carroll, whom he called a liar for accusing him of sexual assault.
The former president, who is closing in on the Republican presidential nomination, said he was a victim of the Biden administration using law enforcement as a weapon against him as he faces to 91 criminal charges in four indictments accusing him of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election. electionby mishandling classified documents and arranging rewards for a porn star.
“What they are doing with elections and election interference is an example of what they are doing with me,” he said. “Look at yesterday, look at all this shit going on, but we keep moving forward, we keep going and somehow it all works out.”
Annabelle Weislocher, 51, a retired Navy and Air Force Reserve nurse, said she believes the lawsuits against Trump are attempts to weaken him and drain him of resources.
“They know he leads. They know he is strong. And they do everything to bring him down,” she said. “That’s what they’re trying to do: take his money thinking he won’t have enough to campaign. That’s the point. »
Trump’s support among Hispanics has grown since he first ran for office in 2016. And on Saturday, he made that point, drawing loud cheers when he asserted that he was doing very well among that demographic group. voters.
The Republican candidate said Hispanic and black families were hardest hit by the arrival of migrants in the country and said the president Joe Biden should not have ended restrictions implemented under the Trump administration to deter migration.
“I’m going to solve it and I’m going to solve it and start the process from day one – day one we’ll start this process,” he said. “That’s why we’re going to win the record share of Latino votes.”
The historic number of migrants arriving at the US border with Mexico during Biden’s term is one of the main challenges of his re-election campaign.
Immigration was a major issue during the Iowa Republican caucuses earlier this month, when Trump won. An AP VoteCast survey found that about 9 in 10 caucus members favored building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, with about 7 in 10 expressing strong support for the idea.
Rob Williams, a 25-year-old voter who attended the Las Vegas rally, said he was glad Texas was challenging the Biden administration on immigration.
“The good people of Texas are stepping up, along with other states,” he said. “They’re going to show the fight over there in Texas.”
Trump is running unopposed in Nevada after the state Republican Party decided to award delegates at a party-run caucus on Dec. 8 instead of a state-run primary a day earlier .
The decision, which was pushed by Trump’s allies within the party to help him gather as many delegates as possible, has caused confusion among some voters, who are receiving mail-in ballots without Trump’s name.
Trump has repeatedly urged voters to come together in his place and ignore the primaries.
“Your primary vote means nothing,” he said. “Don’t worry about the primary, just caucus.”
Trump’s only major Republican rival, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, is participating in the primary but not the caucus, making her ineligible for delegates who will formally select a candidate at the Republican National Convention. ___
Gomez Licon reported from Miami.
