Former President Donald Trump reiterated his strong anti-immigration stance during a rally in Michigan on Tuesday, where he criticized President Joe Biden’s border policies and promised mass deportations of illegal immigrants if reelected. Trump used controversial language, including the term “bloodbath,” to describe the impact of Biden’s immigration policies and high-profile crimes committed by individuals living in the country illegally. He also accused his political adversaries of cheating in elections and spreading misinformation.
During his speech, Trump announced plans for what he called the largest domestic deportation operation in American history and referred to migrants entering the country illegally as “animals.” He claimed that illegal immigration has caused significant damage to the United States and reiterated his belief that migrants from various countries around the world are entering illegally, including prisoners, murderers, drug dealers, and terrorists. However, evidence supporting these claims is lacking, despite Trump repeating them for years.
In response to Biden’s border policies, the Republican National Committee launched a website called “Biden Bloodbath” dedicated to criticizing the administration’s approach to immigration. This move comes as immigration has become a central issue in the 2024 campaign, with Trump and Republicans using recent crimes involving migrants living in the country illegally to attack Biden and his handling of the situation. Trump specifically mentioned the murders of Laken Riley in Georgia and Ruby Garcia in Grand Rapids, attributing their deaths to Biden’s policies without evidence.
Trump’s rally in Michigan marks one of his first public appearances since becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, as he gears up for a potential re-election bid. Meanwhile, Biden has been actively traveling to battleground states as Trump’s legal issues continue to dominate headlines. Trump’s increasingly dark rhetoric has led to accusations that he is encouraging political violence, especially after he shared a video over the weekend depicting a pickup truck with an image of Biden tied to its bumper.
Despite Trump’s claims about migrants in the U.S. illegally contributing to crime rates, recent studies have shown that immigrants are actually less likely to be incarcerated compared to U.S.-born individuals. For example, a Stanford University study found that immigrants were 60% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born men. The Cato Institute has also published research showing that migrants in Texas who are in the country illegally have lower incarceration and homicide conviction rates than U.S. citizens. These findings contradict Trump’s repeated assertions about the connection between illegal immigration and crime.
