LAS VEGAS—Former President Donald Trump said he would invoke a 1798 law to begin mass deporting millions of illegal immigrants, while also pledging to restore the economy and usher in a new “Golden Age for America,” if he wins the Nov. 5 election.
Nevada is one of six battleground states and a potential tipping point in the 2024 presidential election.
“The migrant invasion ends, and the restoration of our country begins,” Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, told supporters at a rally in Las Vegas on Oct. 24.
“The United States is now an occupied country. But it will soon be an occupied country no longer.”
The 45th president made his remarks at Turning Point PAC and Turning Point Action’s rally at the University of Las Vegas Thomas & Mack Center.
Illegal immigration is the most pressing issue facing the nation’s survival, he said.
Trump said that if he regains the White House, he will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to dislodge and deport criminal alien gangs operating in U.S. cities.
He specifically named the transnational criminal gang MS-13 from El Salvador and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as deportation targets.
Trump said the full impact of these criminal foreign gangs has yet to be felt as they adjust to their new surroundings.
“We have a lot of towns that haven’t yet been infected, but they’re petrified that they will be—and they will be. ... These [gangs] are animals, and we have to deal with them.”
Trump said that he would end the federal government’s catch-and-release policy and stop illegal immigrant flights into the United States at taxpayer expense.
“Alien gang members and migrant criminals from prisons and jails, insane asylums, and mental institutions all over the world ... will prey on innocent Americans who have no idea what we’re getting into,” he said.
On Sept. 26, Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally in Douglas, Arizona, after visiting the border fence.
She accused Trump of making the illegal immigration crisis worse after he failed to support a sweeping immigration reform bill in 2020. Harris said the bill would have created a more orderly movement of immigrants using the legal southern ports of entry.
She has called for stricter asylum rules for illegal immigrants. She has also vowed to increase law enforcement funding and training and crack down on illegal drugs crossing into the United States from Mexico.
The Republican rally on Oct. 24 drew more than 29,000 supporters, Trump said, and included former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former U.S. Chief of Staff Kash Patel, and former U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as keynote speakers.
However, according to the conservative political group Turning Point Action, the crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center was a near-capacity 12,500.
With less than 12 days before the election, President Trump said his Democratic opponent isn’t capable of fixing the nation’s border crisis and inflationary tax and economic policies.
Trump criticized Harris for her support of higher taxes and taxes on unrealized capital gains. The former president said he wanted to eliminate taxes on tips, overtime wages, and social security benefits to reduce the tax burden on working Americans.
Supporters Confident
During the rally, Gina Calabrase, an attendee from Las Vegas, said she voted for Trump early and feels confident his support is strong enough to win the state.“It’s a swing state, a battleground state. I never trust any polls. In all honesty, I can’t see how anybody could vote for Kamala,” Calabrase told The Epoch Times. “I don’t trust the establishment. I believe he won in 2020. I believe he’s going to win by a landslide.”
Skip Carlsen, from Utah, told The Epoch Times he’s voting for Trump to save America.
“We’re fearful of losing our freedoms and America. I think he'll have a lot more support from the Republicans this time because they realize this is their 9/11 right now, saving America and the world,” Carlsen said. “America should be first. This is going to be a fight. If Trump gets in, this is just the beginning.”
Dunia Antunez, from Las Vegas, said she’s confident Trump will “pull it off again” like he did in 2016 when he ran against Hillary Clinton.
“Let me tell you, it’s not even about the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. It’s about morals and values for our families and for our country. It’s about the issues,” Antunez told The Epoch Times.
“I was nervous [at first], but now I’m not. It’s about our country and being safe and walking out in your neighborhood, and our children, too.”
Las Vegas staffing business owner Laura Nowlan said she voted for Trump in 2020 even though she had doubts about him.
“When he first started campaigning, I didn’t really care for him. Then I had the opportunity to meet him,” Nowlan told The Epoch Times. “So when I met him in person, I knew that he was the right candidate for this position. So I voted for him. He’s a great negotiator. He doesn’t take bull from anyone.”
Linda Lebica, from Las Vegas, said she believes Trump has more support from voters than the legacy media portrays.
Lebica said she’s hopeful that Republicans will win both the House and Senate, making it easier for Trump to govern in his next term.
Her friend, Cathy Lauer, also from Las Vegas, said she began as a “Trump hater” but changed her mind after watching him debate Clinton on television in the 2016 election.
“Finally, somebody who’s telling the truth,” Lauer told The Epoch Times.
Harris supporter Rich Saenz from Las Vegas stood outside the center holding a sign that read, “Trump for Prison.”
“If he wins the electoral college, it’s going to be a horrible day for democracy,” Saenz told The Epoch Times. “Democrats follow the Constitution. I feel sorry for [Trump supporters]. They’re voting against their self-interest because they’re in love with the guy for whatever reason.”
Millions of Americans have already cast ballots in early voting.
More Republicans have submitted ballots than Democrats, which hasn’t happened in a presidential race since at least 2008, Ralston wrote.
Former President Barack Obama stumped for Harris and down-ballot Democrat candidates at a high school gymnasium in Las Vegas on Oct. 19, the first day of in-person early voting in Nevada.
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), rallied supporters in Las Vegas on Oct. 23, endorsing Sam Brown for U.S. Senate, before heading to Reno, Nevada.
