Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail Thursday for the first time since becoming the only former U.S. president in history to be convicted of a crime, using a stop in Arizona to eviscerate President Biden’s new executive action aimed at securing the border.

Labeling the move as “fake” and “pro-illegal immigration,” Mr. Trump vowed to rescind Mr. Biden’s presidential proclamation as soon as he takes the oath of office and revive the policies he used to stem illegal immigration and strengthen border security.

“The result of Biden’s action this week will be more innocent Americans killed by illegal immigrant criminals, more children trafficked and sold into slavery and millions more illegal aliens pouring into our country,” Mr. Trump said at a “Chase the Vote” town hall event in Phoenix sponsored by Turning Point Action, an Arizona-based conservative group. “Biden’s order is not a border security plan; it is a concession to the fact he has lost control over our border.”

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If Mr. Biden is truly serious about ending the chaos at the border, Mr. Trump said, he would reinstate Trump administration policies.
“Quite simply, Joe Biden wants an invasion; I want a deportation,” Mr. Trump said.

Responding to rising concerns about border security and mounting political pressure, Mr. Biden announced this week that he is suspending the entry of migrants who cross the southern border “unlawfully” and issuing rules limiting those migrants’ ability to claim asylum.

“I take these steps today not to walk away from who we are as Americans but to make sure we preserve who we are for generations to come,” Mr. Biden said.

Immigration has become a major liability for Mr. Biden and has been a top issue for voters throughout the presidential campaign.

An estimated 5 million illegal immigrants have crossed into the United States on Mr. Biden’s watch, experts say, and most were caught and released.

Mr. Trump was slated to fly to San Francisco on Thursday night to attend a $ 300,000-a-person fundraiser hosted by venture capitalist David Sacks, highlighting inroads he has made with wealthy donors in Silicon Valley. Mr. Trump will be back in the Mountain West on Sunday for a rally in Las Vegas.

Mr. Trump is resuming his campaigning as the dust settles from the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s conviction on charges of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

Mr. Trump has framed the Manhattan jury’s guilty verdict as the byproduct of a corrupt legal system and accused prosecutors of trying to tear him down to boost Mr. Biden’s odds of winning.

“I just went through a rigged trial in New York with a highly conflicted, and I mean a highly conflicted judge where there was no crime,” Mr. Trump said Thursday.

Polls have shown most voters agree with the verdict.

Whether the verdict will sizably impact the race remains to be seen.

A Quinnipiac University Poll in Georgia this week found that half of registered voters agreed with the verdict, but respondents gave Mr. Trump a slight 49% to 44% edge over Mr. Biden.

At the same time, there has been a sliver of good news for Mr. Biden.

A New York Times/Siena College Poll study of about 2,000 voters showed that while most people had decided about Mr. Trump before the verdict, a slice of voters have either swung away from him or are rethinking their support.

A YouGov survey, meanwhile, found the percentage of Republicans who think it should be illegal to pay hush money to influence an election has sunk from a year ago.

The number of Republicans who think felons should be allowed to become president has climbed in recent months.

It all matters in an election that could be decided by the thinnest of margins.

Mr. Trump and the Republican National Committee illustrated that point this week by launching a “Swamp the Vote” campaign to persuade votes to take full advantage of early voting.

The strategy marks a dramatic reversal for Mr. Trump, who spent years warning that early voting — particularly mail-in ballots — open the door to widespread fraud.

The change of heart represents a pragmatic recognition of the popular role early voting has played in some of the battleground states that Mr. Trump narrowly lost in 2020, including Arizona and Georgia.

Mr. Trump said the idea is to flood the polls with so many supporters that his predicted victory in November will be “too big to rig.”

Turning Point Action, the group that hosted Mr. Trump on Thursday, is also leading an effort to identify Trump supporters and urge them to use early voting tools.

Mr. Trump also commemorated the 80th anniversary of the U.S.-led D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France.

His campaign posted a clip of him on social media talking to veterans via computer video conference on his flight to Arizona.

“I want to thank you all, and I will make you a deal: I will see you in the White House in January,” Mr. Trump told them.