WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris On Wednesday, he criticized Republicans Donald Trump Donald Trump’s promise to deport millions of people in the United States illegally, raising questions about whether he would rely on mass raids and detention camps to do so.
Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said at the annual Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute conference that the nation can both find a path to citizenship for those who want to come and secure the border at the same time.
“We can do both and we must do both,” she said.
Trump, for his part, leaned heavily on his alarmist message about immigration at a rally in Uniondale, on Long Island, New York, focusing most of his remarks on that topic.
In an address to Hispanic members of Congress, Vice President Harris said Donald Trump is promising the largest deportation in American history.
“We’re destroying the fabric of our country. And we’re not going to keep doing that. We’ve got to get rid of these people. Give me a chance,” Trump said.
Both candidates paused Wednesday in their campaigning in states where the Nov. 5 election results are likely to be decisive. The former president drew large, enthusiastic crowds, giving him a chance to show his support, even in a blue state.
He lashed out at Democratic leaders in New York City and state, blaming them for homeless people living in what he called “horrible, disgusting, dangerous, filthy encampments,” and even for conditions in the New York City subway system, which he called “squalid and dangerous” and vowed to fix.
“What do you have to lose?” he asked, asking for their vote.
Before heading to the suburbs, Trump stopped at a Bitcoin cafe in New York City. Trump has recently embraced cryptocurrency and helped launch his family’s cryptocurrency company Monday night. new cryptocurrency company.
Harris has reversed the Trump administration’s immigration policies as she seeks support from Hispanics.
“As we struggle to move our country toward a better future, Donald Trump and his extremist allies will continue to try to push us back,” Harris said. “We all remember what they did to separate families, and now they have promised to carry out the largest deportation, a mass deportation, in American history.”
“Imagine what that would look like and what that would be like? How is that going to happen? Massive raids? Massive detention camps? What are they talking about?” she asked.
If elected in November, Donald Trump has promised to carry out “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country.” He has not provided any details on how this operation will take place.
Trump has highlighted immigration as a key issue in his campaign and made it a key point of his speech on Wednesday.
“Look at what’s happening,” he told his audience in New York. “Businesses are fleeing, money is flying out of your state, and hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are draining your public resources.”
Trump said he plans to travel in the next two weeks to Springfield, Ohio, which has been the center of false accusations The former president and his running mate J.D. Vance said members of the city’s Haitian community are kidnapping and eating cats and dogs. Trump also said he plans to visit Aurora, Colorado, He says a Venezuelan street gang with little presence in the city has taken over a rundown apartment complex. Aurora police say that is not the case.
He has an edge over Harris in opinion polls on who voters trust to best handle the problem.
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Meanwhile, the Teamsters Union declined to endorse Harris or Trump, saying neither had enough support from its 1.3 million members.
Harris met with a group of Teamsters on Monday, after long courting unions and making supporting the middle class a central policy goal. Trump met with a group of Teamsters earlier this year, and its chairman, Sean O’Brien, spoke at his invitation to the Republican National Convention.
Trump’s rally Wednesday night took place in Uniondale, a neighborhood that could be key for Republicans. maintain control of the HouseHis party is trying to protect 18 Republicans in heavily Democratic congressional districts that Joe Biden won in 2020, particularly in coastal New York and California, and is going on the offensive to challenge Democrats elsewhere.
Long Island in particular has one of the most Closely watched racesbetween first-term Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito and Democrat Laura Gillen. D’Esposito is a former New York City police detective who won in 2022 in a district that Biden won by about 15 percentage points in 2020.
On Tuesday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the GOP had “a real chance of winning” New York “for the first time in decades.” In that same message, Trump also promised that he would “take back SALT,” suggesting that he would eliminate the cap on state and local tax deductions that was part of the tax cut legislation he signed in 2017.
The so-called SALT plug has led to higher tax bills for many residents of New York, New Jersey, California and other high-cost, high-tax states, and is a major campaign issue in those states, particularly among New York Republicans serving in districts won by Biden.
Harris’ speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute marked the second straight day she addressed constituencies considered key to the Democratic Party.
Tuesday, she interviewed in Philadelphia She met with members of the National Association of Black Journalists. She denounced Trump’s rhetoric and said voters should make sure he “can’t have that microphone again.” She has trips planned later in the week to Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin.
Trump is trying to return to his campaign rhythm after Sunday’s defeat. apparent assassination attempt while playing golf in Florida. On Tuesday, he traveled to Flint, Michiganand did not appear to change plans for upcoming trips to the nation’s capital and North Carolina later in the week.
His running mate, the senator from Ohio. JD Vancehosted an event in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
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You can reach Meg Kinnard at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
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Kinnard reported from Houston and Colvin from Uniondale, New York. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Washington and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.
