Trump pledges 10,000 extra border agents in fight with Harris over immigration
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Supporters wait ahead of a campaign rally held by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on Oct 13.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – Donald Trump pledged on Oct 13 to hire an extra 10,000 border patrol agents if he is re-elected as president, as he intensifies his attacks on Democratic candidate Kamala Harris on the issue of immigration.
The Republican presidential candidate said he would meet the goal by asking the US Congress to fund a 10 per cent pay rise for border patrol agents and a US$10,000 (S$13,000) retention and signing bonus, at a rally in the border state of Arizona, an election battleground.
Flanked on stage by leaders of the Border Patrol union, who have endorsed Trump, the former president said: “This will ensure that we can hire and keep the Border Patrol agents that we need.”
Trump is locked in a close race with Democratic Vice-President Harris ahead of the Nov 5 election. Illegal immigration is a top voter concern, and Trump is seen by a majority of voters as the person best able to address it, opinion polls show.
Trump helped kill a bipartisan border security Bill earlier in 2024 that would have funded the hiring of 1,500 extra Customs and border patrol agents, and an additional 1,600 asylum officers.
There are currently roughly 20,000 US border patrol officers.
Ms Harris and President Joe Biden have both blasted Trump for his role in pressuring congressional Republicans to kill the bipartisan border security Bill, accusing him of sabotaging it for political gain.
Some seven million migrants have been arrested crossing the US-Mexico border illegally during Mr Biden’s administration, according to government data, a record high number that has fuelled criticism of Ms Harris and Mr Biden from Trump and fellow Republicans.
Ms Harris has outlined her plans to fix a “broken immigration system”, while accusing Trump of “fanning the flames of fear and division” over the impact of immigrants on American life.
She has also called for tighter asylum restrictions and vowed to make a “top priority” of stopping the deadly opioid fentanyl from entering the US.
On Oct 11, Trump called for the death penalty for “any migrant” who kills a US citizen.
He has noticeably hardened his anti-immigration rhetoric in the final weeks of the campaign. In September, he called illegal immigrants in the US who commit violent crimes “monsters”, “stone-cold killers” and “vile animals”.
Studies generally find there is no evidence that immigrants commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans, and critics say Trump’s rhetoric reinforces racist tropes. REUTERS
