‘Joe Biden’s Border Bloodbath’: Trump Doubles Down On Controversial Anti-Immigration Rhetoric
KEY FACTS
Trump reprised his controversial use of the word “bloodbath” in discussing Biden’s immigration policies and high-profile crimes in which the accused defendants were living in the country illegally, telling a crowd in Michigan “I stand before you today to declare that Joe Biden’s border bloodbath …” before pausing himself, seemingly to emphasize his use of the term, then adding, “and that’s what it is—it’s a bloodbath.”
Trump’s use of the word “bloodbath” last month while describing his predictions for the auto industry under a second Biden term drew heavy criticism and concerns that he was alluding to political violence—a term Trump claimed Tuesday was “incorrectly” used against him, adding that “all [his political adversaries] do is cheat on elections, and disinformation, misinformation.”
His speech Tuesday coincided with the Republican National Committee’s launch of a website titled “Biden Bloodbath” dedicated to attacking Biden’s border policies.
Trump also detailed his plans for “the largest domestic deportation operation in the history of our country” if he’s reelected, reprised his use of the term “animals” while discussing migrants entering the country illegally who have been accused of crimes, and claimed illegal immigration has “wrecked our country.”
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“They're sending prisoners, murderers, drug dealers, mental patients and terrorists, the worst they have in every country all over the world,” Trump said, repeating a claim he’s made for years about migrants entering the country illegally—which lacks sound evidence. “This isn't just in South America. They're coming from the Congo, from Yemen, from Somalia, from Syria. They come from all over the world, China.”
KEY BACKGROUND
The rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan marks one of Trump’s first since he became the presumptive Republican nominee on March 12, while Biden has traveled to multiple battleground states as Trump’s courtroom appearances have outpaced his campaign stops. Trump’s increasingly dark rhetoric in recent months has fueled accusations he is endorsing political violence, including a video he shared over the weekend that shows a pickup truck stamped with an image of Biden hog-tied to its bumper. Trump and Republicans have used recent high-profile crimes involving migrants living in the country illegally to hammer Biden over the surge in migrant crossings as the issue has become a focal point of the 2024 campaign. Trump spoke Tuesday about the murders of Georgia college student Laken Riley in February and Ruby Garcia in Grand Rapids earlier this month, claiming, without evidence, that Biden himself allowed Garcia’s accused killer to stay in the country illegally. “Cooked Joe Biden took him back, and let him back in, and let him stay in, and he viciously killed Ruby,” Trump said. Garcia’s romantic partner, Brandon Ortiz-Vite, a Mexican national, admitted to killing Garcia, according to court documents cited by multiple outlets. He was deported in 2020, but it’s unclear when he returned to the U.S., according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Riley’s death also became a flashpoint in the immigration debate when police charged an undocumented Venezuelan migrant, Jose Ibarra, with her murder.
TANGENT
Trump linked crime among undocumented imgrants to his own legal woes as an example of his claims that the U.S. justice system is unfairly rigged against him while discussing the $175 million bond he posted Monday in his New York civil fraud case. He suggested migrants in the country illegally accused of crime aren’t subject to the same standards: “I’m the only one that has to put up a bond. I put up a bond, I didn’t do anything wrong . . . they can shoot somebody, kill somebody and walk out of jail an hour later,” he said, without specifying exactly who he was referring to. Trump was required to post the bond as he appeals a February order to pay $454.2 million plus interest for repeatedly misstating the value of his assets on financial statements. Both Ortiz-Vite and Ibarra were denied bonds in their cases and are being held in jail.
CONTRA
Recent studies contradict claims that migrants in the U.S. illegally are committing crimes at higher rates than people living in the country legally. A 2023 Stanford University study found immigrants were 60% less likely than U.S.-born men to be incarcerated. The Cato Institute has also published several studies that show migrants in Texas who are in the country illegally have lower incarceration and lower homicide conviction rates than U.S. citizens.
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