SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. — Donald Trump is traveling to the shrub-dotted hills of Arizona near the U.S.-Mexico border to campaign Thursday on immigration, his signature issue since launching his first successful presidential bid nine years ago.
The visit is the fourth in a series of events held in battleground states this week to try to draw the focus away from Democrats' celebration of Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential nomination in Chicago. The Trump campaign placed a lectern with a sign that says “the southern border” on a dirt road between a border wall and piles of steel beams.
The theme of Thursday’s visit is “Make America Safe Again,” and Trump plans to meet with people whose relatives were attacked or slain by immigrants who arrived in the country illegally during the Biden administration. Nearby, snipers stood at an elevated position, their eyes and weapons pointed toward Mexico. On Wednesday, the GOP nominee held his first outdoor rally since an assassination attempt, speaking to supporters while surrounded by bulletproof glass.
Sheriff Mark Dannels said his department is prepared to show Trump the realities of what law enforcement faces at the border daily.
"We're going to take him to the border and we're going to discuss our challenges, our realities, and then, what are we doing that's working here, too?" Dannels said.
According to Dannels, Cochise County has had 3,762 people booked into jail due to border crimes in the last 32 months at a cost of $12.5 million. He said anytime he can get the spotlight on issues at the border, he takes it seriously.
Dannels said he hopes Trump "understands the reality" of law enforcement struggles at the border, acknowledging that conversations surrounding the border involve a "roller coaster of opinions."
"It's also a roller coaster of politics. Right now, I don't care about the politics," Dannels said. "I care about the public safety. I would like to protect these folks here within my state, also to include the quality of life. That's what I look at this to be."
Trump and his Republican allies are criticizing Harris and other Democrats for spending more time talking about him this week at the Democratic National Convention than talking about issues like the border and immigration.
“It’s like they’re having a party. They don’t mention the border. All they do is make up lies about me,” Trump complained as he called into “Fox & Friends” on Thursday morning.
Some of the speakers at the convention on Wednesday accused Trump of using the border to stir up his base. They argued that Democrats are the ones offering “real leadership" while Trump demonizes immigrants.
“When it comes to the border, hear me when I say, ‘You know nothing, Donald Trump,'" said U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, who represents the border city of El Paso, Texas. “He and his Republican imitators see the border and immigration as a political opportunity to exploit instead of an issue to address.”
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, spoke after a video played showing Republican opposition to a bipartisan border deal earlier this year. Murphy was the top Democrat negotiating the proposal with conservative senators and said the bill would have had unanimous support if it weren't for Trump.
Dannels said he and the mayor of Sierra Vista have also invited the Harris campaign to visit the border.
"I talked to Senator Kelly on Friday and asked him to extend an invitation to Vice President Harris to come to our county and see what we are doing, too."
Dannels said it is a fresh invite, but he has not heard back from the campaign.
Trump has spent the week campaigning across the battleground states. He traveled to Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina and will hold events in Las Vegas and the Phoenix suburb of Glendale on Friday. His running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, spoke at the same location near the border a few weeks ago.
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Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report from Chicago.
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