US presidential polls: Trump rails against immigrants

Donald Trump railed against immigrants in the country illegally in an often-graphic speech in Pennsylvania on Sunday evening, his fourth campaign stop in a month in what has become the presidential campaign’s most hotly contested state.

The Republican presidential candidate called some categories of immigrants “vicious” over 10 times during his nearly two-hour address in Erie, and described several violent incidents.

While there is no nationwide data on crimes committed specifically by undocumented immigrants, research shows they do not commit crimes at a higher rate than people born in the US.

Trump’s speech was short of new policy details and the ferocity of his rhetoric suggests he is focused mainly on driving core supporters to vote, rather than winning over middle-of-the-road voters, ahead of Election Day on November 5.

Trump believes immigration is a winning campaign issue, and he has at times said he believes immigration weighs on voters’ minds more than other major topics, such as the economy.

“They call them of the worst order,” Trump said of immigrants who had committed violent crimes. “Charged with or convicted with heinous crimes, including child predators, drug dealers, vicious gang members, sadist thugs and people that deal in women.”

Trump multiple times referenced instances of rape, including child rape. At one point, he suggested he would condone a burst of police violence. “One rough hour, and I mean real rough. The word will get out and it will end immediately,” he said.

It is hardly the first time that Trump has unleashed a tirade against undocumented immigrants in his bid for the White House.

In June 2015, in the speech announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 2016 election, Trump accused Mexico of sending rapists and other criminals to live in the United States. “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some I assume are good people, but I speak to border guards and they tell us what we are getting,” he said in his inaugural campaign speech in the atrium of Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Trump’s rally on Sunday in Erie came one month to the day after his vice presidential running mate, US Senator JD Vance, held his own event there. Trump is due to hold another rally in western Pennsylvania, on October 5.