In Grand Rapids, Trump argues Biden has allowed border crisis to reach 'every town'
GRAND RAPIDS — Despite being more than 1,100 miles from the U.S. southern border with Mexico, a west Michigan city took the center of debate on Tuesday as former President Donald Trump campaigned on border security in Grand Rapids.
Trump attacked President Joe Biden's record at the border, arguing under Biden's watch the U.S. is facing a spike of crime driven by a surge of undocumented migrants entering the U.S. Border security is likely to be a central issue in Trump's campaign, as it was in 2016 when he first ran for president.
Trump's visit comes just more than a week after Ruby Garcia, a 25-year-old Grand Rapids woman, was found dead on U.S. 131 due to gunshot wounds. Local authorities have charged Brandon Ortiz-Vite, 25, with felony murder, open murder, carjacking, carrying a concealed weapon and felony possession of a firearm after Michigan State Police troopers found Garcia's body on the highway late Friday, March 22. Garcia and Ortiz-Vite were dating, law enforcement officials said at a recent news conference.
Michigan will once again be a vital state to either candidate's chances of winning the presidential election this fall, and Kent County, where Trump spoke Tuesday, is a growing battleground in the state. Since 2008 — with the exception of the 2012 election — the winner of Kent County has won the entire state, including Trump in 2016 and then Biden in 2020, when he flipped Michigan.
"Under 'crooked' Joe Biden, every state is now a border state, every town is now a border town, because Joe Biden has brought the carnage and chaos and killings from all over the world and dumped it straight into our backyards," Trump said.
Ortiz-Vite was in the U.S. illegally, and had been previously deported in 2020 after his status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program expired, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Republicans argue that Ortiz-Vite wouldn't have been in the U.S. if more restrictive policies at the U.S. southern border with Mexico were in place.
"This monster had been deported, thrown out of the country, wasn't going to be able to come back," Trump said of Ortiz-Vite.
At one point, Trump said he "spoke to some of her family," but Garcia's sister, Mavi Garcia, told WOOD TV-8 in Grand Rapids that Trump did not speak with the family, and that the remark was "shocking."
Democrats characterized Trump's trip to Grand Rapids as exploiting Garcia's death for political gain. In a media call before Trump's remarks, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, said: "Ruby Garcia's death was a horrible tragedy, and so is every life taken by violence including domestic violence, regardless of who commits the crime, period. But unfortunately, Donald Trump and MAGA (Make America Great Again) Republicans are hellbent on exploiting Ruby's death for their own politics. Frankly, I think it's shameful."
Stabenow also said there are "very real security concerns at the border."
Outside the venue: Trump supporters, opponents brave cold, rain ahead of Grand Rapids campaign stop
Trump delivered remarks to a crowd of invited guests at a downtown Grand Rapids convention center. He spoke for about 40 minutes, spending the bulk of his remarks focusing on the situation at the U.S. southern border and criticizing Biden's record there. He was joined by a gaggle of elected Republicans, including U.S. Reps. John James, Tim Walberg and John Moolenaar, and U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers, who he has endorsed.
Two sheriffs of counties in southwestern Michigan, Daniel Abbott of Van Buren County and Frank Baker of Allegan County, also spoke in support of Trump. Baker said illegal narcotics, including methamphetamine and fentanyl are "devastating our communities, and the only way we can do anything is to secure the border."
Trump also highlighted recent reports made by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office that "transnational gangs" have been breaking into high-end homes and burglarizing them.
Before his remarks, Trump's campaign staff handed news media members a packet highlighting Garcia's death, as well as the death of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old killed while jogging on the University of Georgia's campus in February. A Venezuelan citizen who immigration officials say was in the U.S. illegally has been charged with murder, among other felonies, related to Riley's death, according to the Associated Press.
Border crossings have hit record numbers in recent months — in December, there were more than 300,000 enforcement encounters at the border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, and while that figure dropped to around 190,000 in February, it still remained above encounter totals for the same month in the previous years of Biden's presidency.
While Trump has described the situation as a "border bloodbath," there's a lack of data indicating a rise in violent crime committed by undocumented migrants. Research indicates the opposite — a series of studies have found immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born Americans.
Democrats are quick to note that a border bill was on the table in Congress — a bipartisan border bill sponsored by Republican Sen. James Lankford, of Oklahoma, aimed at restricting crossings at the southern border had support from Democrats and Biden. But House Republicans rejected the bill in February, saying it was too weak. Trump also spoke out against the bill, calling it a "great gift to Democrats" and Biden. House Republicans had passed a stricter border security bill last May, although that bill stood little chance of passing the Democrat-led Senate.
Republicans, broadly, see ongoing concerns about undocumented migrants crossing the nation's southern border with Mexico as a winning issue for them in the upcoming presidential election. A 5,140-person survey from the Pew Research Center conducted Jan. 16-21 found 78% of Americans said the large number of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. at the U.S.-Mexico border is either a crisis or a major problem.
More: Political debate over border security slams into west Michigan as Trump visits
Democrats, however, argue they can win running on immigration as well, pointing to U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., winning a special election in a seat previously held by a Republican after making immigration a central point of his campaign. Whether Suozzi's strategy transcends nationally, especially as polling shows concern about the border situation rising, is yet to be seen.
Outside the convention hall where Trump spoke, a crowd of a few hundred gathered after the Kent GOP organized a rally to support the former president. A group of Biden supporters also gathered, braving the rain to protest the former president's visit.
Before the event began, Trump also held a roundtable discussion with elected Republicans and law enforcement officials. During Trump's main speaking portion, James Tignanelli, president of the Police Officers Association of Michigan, urged Trump to support legislation to make the murder of a law enforcement official punishable by death.
Contact Arpan Lobo: [email protected]. Follow him on X (Twitter) @arpanlobo.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: After killing of Grand Rapids woman, Trump campaigns on border security
