“On day one, I am going to begin swiftly removing criminal illegal immigrants from this country – including removing the hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal immigrants that have been released into US communities under the Obama-Clinton administration,” Trump told supporters in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday.
“These international gangs of thugs and drug cartels will be, I promise you — from the first day in office the first thing that I’m going to do, the first piece of paper that I’m going to sign — is we’re going to get rid of these people day one,” Trump added.
Adding new details of how he would tackle illegal immigration, Trump stressed that he would establish a tracking system to deport illegal immigrants who overstay and set up an e-verify system to ensure they do not receive welfare or other benefits.
Trump also doubled down on the most controversial aspect of his immigration policy – building a towering wall along the US-Mexico border.
“I am going to build a great border wall, institute nationwide e-verify, stop illegal immigrants from accessing welfare and entitlements and develop an exit-entry tracking system to ensure those who overstay their visas are quickly removed,” Trump said.
Trump was also joined onstage by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, Gov. Terry Branstad, and Rep. Steve King during the middle of his speech. But Iowa senator Chuck Grassley, who is running for re-election this year, did not appear with Trump.
“Every time an African-American citizen, or any citizen, loses their job to an illegal immigrant, the rights of that American citizen have been violated,” he said. “Equal protection under the law must include the consistent application of our immigration laws.”
He criticized his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton saying, “A vote for Trump is a vote to have a nation of laws, a vote for Clinton is a vote for open borders.”
