Donald Trump: What He Is Doing at the US-Mexico Border
Trump visits the border city of Laredo, Texas.
— -- The border between the United States and Mexico got a visitor Thursday afternoon: Donald Trump.
The GOP presidential contender landed in the border city of Laredo, Texas, to tour the border and give a press conference, where he highlighted what he called a "real problem."
"We have a tremendous danger on the border with the illegals coming in," Trump said.
Trump’s comments come just a day after a new study from the Pew Research Center found that the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States has remained steady for the fifth year in a row – dropping from a peak in 2007.
He made the comments after the border union that had planned to give the tour backed out at the last minute.
"Our intentions to meet with Mr. Trump was to provide a 'Boots on the Ground' perspective to not only Mr. Trump, but to the media that would be in attendance at this event," the National Border Patrol Council Local 2455 wrote in a statement.
Trump said the organization backed down because of pressure from the national organization. He still toured the border and then joined Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz and City Manager Jesus Olivares at a news conference to speak about border security.
"Border patrol is petrified of saying what’s happening, cause they have a real problem here," Trump told reporters after landing.
Trump went on to again predict that he would win the Hispanic vote, saying that he could topple Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
"Easily she's the worst Secretary of State in the history of our country," he said. "She's going to be beaten and I'm the one to beat her."
Still, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows that 74 percent of Americans see undocumented immigrants from Mexico as “mainly honest people trying to get ahead” as opposed to “mainly undesirable people like criminals.”
He also bashed fellow presidential contender and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry for doing a "terrible job" with border security during his tenure.
The trip to Laredo, whose residents are more than 90 percent Hispanic, comes after Trump made headlines last month when announcing his candidacy, calling immigrants from Mexico “rapists” and “criminals.”
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