Trump's Arizona trip keeps immigration front-and-center, as Democrats sharpen border messaging

• Donald Trump worked to paint a dark picture of the U.S.-Mexico border under Vice President Kamala Harris during a visit to the battleground state of Arizona.
• At a press conference, Trump misrepresented Harris' policy views, her immigration record and recounted several crimes allegedly committed by undocumented immigrants.
• Trump's visit came as Democrats shift some of their border messages, adopting harder lines.

Former President Donald Trump painted a dark picture on Thursday of what the U.S.-Mexico border would be like if Vice President Kamala Harris were to be elected president.

Trump visited Arizona just hours before Harris was due to accept her party's presidential nomination on the final night of the Democratic National Convention.

Throughout an hour-long press conference, Trump falsely claimed that Harris supported open border policies, and repeated fake data on how many immigrants entered the U.S. during the Biden-Harris administration.

"If [Harris] has the chance, she will allow more than 100 million illegal aliens into our country," Trump claimed. "Our country will be overrun, and essentially it won't be a country."

Trump also described several grisly crimes allegedly committed by undocumented immigrants.

Fanning voters' concerns about undocumented immigrants and the Southern border — and then pledging to respond to these fears — are a key piece of the Trump campaign's strategy.

Harris and Democrats, meanwhile, are still working to develop a unified immigration and border security platform.

That work was on display this week at the Democratic National Convention, where speakers tried to thread a needle between compassion for immigrants, and the tougher border control measures that polls show voters support.

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