Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that President Biden’s push to loosen immigration restrictions is “an illegal, unconstitutional amnesty,” a betrayal of the American people, and a desperate attempt to score political points before the November election.
Speaking at a rally in Racine, Wisconsin, Mr. Trump said if he is elected, Mr. Biden’s executive action will not survive his watch.
“Crooked Joe’s action today is an illegal unconstitutional amnesty without approval from Congress, no approval from the courts or the American people,” Mr. Trump said. “When I am elected, Joe Biden’s illegal amnesty will be ripped up and thrown out on the very first day we are back in office.”
Mr. Trump said the executive action is Mr. Biden’s latest unilateral attempt to impose his radical vision on the nation and, in this case, an attempt to open the voting door for immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.
Hours earlier, Mr. Biden announced he is granting leniency to half a million immigrants who are married to American citizens but lack legal status. His plan would speed a pathway to citizenship for them and their children.
Immigrants must meet certain criteria, such as living in the country for 10 years.
The announcement adds to the contrasts with Mr. Trump, who has vowed to lead the biggest deportation of immigrants who are in the country illegally.
Mr. Trump said Mr. Biden’s immigration record is littered with crimes against Americans by migrants without documentation, including the high-profile killings of Rachel Hannah Morin in Maryland and Laken Riley in Georgia.
“Joe Biden wants to be the president of illegal aliens, but I will be the president for law-abiding Americans — every race, religion, color and creed,” he said.
Mr. Trump is set to be selected as the GOP standard-bearer at the Republican National Convention next month in Milwaukee. But there is a possible caveat.
The former president is scheduled to be sentenced in New York days before the convention for being convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to a porn star before the 2016 election.
Judge Juan Merchan’s sentencing decision — in the case of jail time or home confinement — has the potential to keep Mr. Trump away from the convention. It’s unknown how the sentence will be structured.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump have been locked in a tight race in Wisconsin, but there has not been any post-conviction polling in the state.
Democrats, meanwhile, have pounced on Mr. Trump’s recent offhand remark that Milwaukee is a “horrible” city, and used his visit to Racine to remind voters of the Republican’s failed promise after breaking ground during his presidency on an electronics factory for Foxconn — a Taiwanese company — that was supposed to create thousands of jobs. That project didn’t pan out.
Mr. Biden visited Racine last month to highlight the administration’s role in building a $3.3 billion Microsoft data center that is expected to create roughly 2,000 jobs.
“There is just one candidate on the ballot fighting for good jobs for Wisconsin families: Joe Biden,” said Democratic National Committee spokesperson Addy Toevs.
Mr. Trump said he loves Milwaukee, telling the crowd in Racine that he chose the location for the convention.
Mr. Trump in 2016 became the first Republican to carry Wisconsin in a presidential race since President Reagan in 1984, defeating Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton by less than a percentage point.
Four years later, Mr. Biden outperformed Mr. Trump by a smaller margin.
The Republican National Committee before the rally said Mr. Trump’s “America First agenda will end Joe Biden’s crippling inflation, sky-high prices, the border crisis, and rampant crime, Making America Great Again.”
