At Border, Trump Meets Americans Affected by Illegal Immigration

Former President Donald Trump (R) with Patty Morin (L) during a visit to the border wall at Montezuma Pass, Cochise County, Ariz., on Aug. 22, 2024. Janice Hisle/The Epoch Times

MONTEZUMA PASS, Ariz.—Under the midday Arizona sun at the U.S.-Mexico border, six people affected by illegal immigration stepped forward on Aug. 22 alongside former President Donald Trump to tell their stories. Several of them said no one in power is listening to them.

They ranged from an attack survivor to a sheriff faced with a $12.5 million cost of jailing criminal illegal immigrants. Each person said that Trump’s policies would improve the situation, and that’s why they support his potential return to the White House as the 47th president.

Grieving mother Patty Morin sipped on bottled water, gathered her strength, and stepped to the microphone next to Trump.

Although she was speaking at Trump’s border wall visit to support his candidacy, Morin asked people to look beyond politics. She said wants people to consider how much illegal immigration is affecting Americans.

Prosecutors accuse an illegal immigrant from El Salvador of killing Morin’s daughter, Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old Maryland mother of five.

“We’re here because [of] losing our moms, our daughters, our children, to criminals. And that shouldn’t happen,” said Morin, who wiped away tears at the end of her speech.

“We should be taking care of our country, our people,” Morin said. “And the only way I believe that’s going to happen is if President Trump is reelected as president—and we close up this border and we put policies back into place that were there before, instead of this open-border thing.”

Alexis Nungaray of Houston, mother of 12-year-old murder victim Jocelyn Nungaray, echoed her sentiments. “Please, please, he needs to be in office and we need better border control.” Two illegal immigrants are accused of killing Jocelyn.

Amanda Kiefer, who survived being attacked by an illegal immigrant while walking through “a nice neighborhood” in San Francisco, said: “I don’t feel like I belong on the stage with the folks here, since I seem to have gotten off kind of easy—just a fractured skull. I didn’t lose loved ones.” The attack caused her to leave California, and she worries that the rest of the nation isn’t safe under current immigration policies.

Trump: Unbelievable Courage

The three women joined a trio of law enforcement officers for Trump’s ”Make America Secure Again“ campaign stop, which sought to contrast Trump’s policies with those that were enacted while his political opponent for the Nov. 5 election, Vice President Kamala Harris, has been in office. Since early 2021, Harris has served as President Joe Biden’s so-called border czar who was tasked with reducing the causes of illegal immigration.

Trump said that “migrant crime,” or crimes tied to illegal immigrants, aren’t tracked properly, so it’s hard to gauge the toll that these crimes take. Trump said he hears “story after story” from crime victims and law enforcement officers.

Asked what he thinks when hearing about crime victims’ ordeals,  Trump replied, “I don’t know how they can take it.”

He praised law enforcement officers for their “unbelievable courage” in performing their duties in “dangerous territory” while enduring injuries and risking their lives.

Illegal immigration has been a major issue throughout all three of Trump’s presidential runs. His 2024 running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), also visited a section of the border wall in Cochise County, Arizona, on Aug. 1.

Access to the border events has been limited to credentialed journalists, campaign staff, and program participants.

Border Patrol Perspective

Paul Perez, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing Customs and Border Patrol agents, said he has been defending the U.S. border for 27 years.

“We have never seen a border as chaotic as the one we’re at now,” he said during the Trump border visit.

“Under President Trump, we had the best policies in place,” which dropped illegal border crossings to record lows, Perez said. “Now we have the complete opposite.”

During the Biden-Harris administration, more than 10 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States.

Even though the number of border encounters has been decreasing in recent months, the numbers are still higher than in many previous years.

While Trump made building additional miles of border wall a priority, the Biden-Harris administration halted construction of the wall. Some unused construction materials remain piled up at the site of Trump’s border visit.

Standing between the structure and the materials, Perez said, “To my right is what we call ‘Trump Wall.’ This was the wall that was built under President Trump. To my left, they have what we call ‘Kamala Wall.’ It’s just sitting there, doing nothing, laying down. That’s what this border’s become, an open border.”

The Epoch Times has sought comment from the Harris campaign regarding comments made during the Trump event.

The Biden-Harris administration also reversed many other Trump-era policies including “Remain in Mexico,” which required asylum-seekers to wait in their home country until U.S. authorities processed their claims.

Perez’s predecessor, former border patrol agent Brandon Judd, said he tried to work with Harris.

“I told her transition team exactly what would happen if they got rid of his [Trump’s] policies. We suggested policies to her within her parameters, and she refused to listen,” Judd said.

He said that in contrast Trump met with more than 200 officers who deal with illegal immigration. “He listened to the men and women that were on the front lines,” and acted based on their recommendations, Judd said, which is why Trump’s policies worked.

Sheriff: Nobody’s Listening

Mark Dannels, sheriff of Cochise County, where Trump’s event was held, said: “My community is tired. My community is frustrated.”

Since Trump left office, Dannels has seen “the policies that have failed this country, the policies that have failed our citizens, and the tragedies that my neighbors are addressing silently … because nobody’s listening.”

During the past 31 months, deputies have booked 3,762 people into the Cochise County Jail for border-related crimes, he said. “These are not immigration issues. These are border-related crimes, up to double-digit murders,” Dannels said. Locking up those suspects cost $12.5 million, and “I get zero dollars from the federal government on that,” he said.

Dannels also gave some facts and figures about the fentanyl crisis. In 2020, Trump’s last year in office, just over 2 million fentanyl pills were seized in Arizona, he said. Last year, that number ballooned to 111 million. That drug has become a top cause of death among young Americans, with chemicals from China being used by Mexican drug cartels to produce it.

“America’s sheriffs have stood strong on the voice to secure our borders. We have tried everything to meet with President Biden and Vice President Harris,” to no avail, Dannels said.

When Trump was in office, Dannels frequently visited the White House. “He was always there for us.”

He turned to Trump and said, “I can assure you, Mr. President, this community and our law enforcement professionals will never give up hope. To us, hope is confidence, hope is commitment, hope is courage. And your visit today renews our hope.”

John Haughey contributed to this report.