Trump: 'Countless Americans' Would Be Alive If Not For Obama's 'Open Border' Policy
PHOENIX, Ariz. (CBSNewYork) -- Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump went on the attack against President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton Wednesday night, laying the blame at their feet over the country's immigration problem during his policy speech in Phoenix on Wednesday night.
As CBS2's Tony Aiello reported, Trump struck a hard line in his Phoenix speech – a contrast to his tone when he spoke six hours earlier and 1,200 miles south in Mexico.
Trump said that the White House's "weak and foolish" open border policies has led to the deaths of countless Americans, as he talked about the beatings and stabbings of young women at the hands of undocumented immigrants.
"Countless Americans who have died in recent years would be alive today if it weren't for the open borders of this administration," Trump told supporters.
Trump continued, "President Obama and Hillary Clinton have engaged in gross dereliction of duty by surrendering the safety of American people to open borders."
Trump stated that the only issue that matters in the immigration debate is the "well-being of the American people."
"To all the politicians, donors and special interests, hear these words from me and all of you today, there is only one core issue in the immigration debate and that issue is the well-being of the American people," Trump said. "Nothing even comes a close second."
Trump laid out ten steps he will undertake as president, including building a wall along the southern border, ending catch and release, and blocking funding for sanctuary cities.
Trump repeated his assertion that Mexico will pay for the wall.
"Mexico will pay for the wall -- 100 percent. They don't know it yet, but they're going to pay for the wall."
Trump added that as president he will triple the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and create to new deportation task force to remove the most dangerous undocumented immigrants in the country. He even said that the task force should deport Clinton.
"Maybe they will be able to deport her," Trump said to a rousing ovation.
The Republican nominee also said that his administration would suspend the issuance of visas where adequate screening cannot occur.
"Countries from which immigration would be suspended would include places like Syria and Libya and we are going to stop the tens of thousands of people coming in from Syria," Trump said.
Trump previously called on a ban of all Muslims from entering the U.S. following the San Bernardino, California, terror attack last December.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump made a quick trip to Mexico to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto where the two talked about several issues, including the border wall.
During a press conference following the meeting, Trump defended the right of the United States to build a massive border wall along its southern flank.
"We did discuss the wall. We didn't discuss payment of the wall," Trump said.
However, Peña Nieto later tweeted, "At the start of the conversation with Donald Trump I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall."
With the meeting held behind closed doors, it was impossible to know who was telling the truth. But the difference in how Trump and Peña Nieto recalled their talk was an example of the political risk taken on by two unpopular politicians who arrived at the meeting having spent months quarreling from afar.
Trump tweeted Wednesday evening, "Great trip to Mexico today - wonderful leadership and high quality people! Look forward to our next meeting."
Trump began his campaign by deriding Mexico as a source of rapists and criminals, and piled on in the months to come as he attacked Mexico over free trade, illegal immigration and border security. Peña Nieto responded by condemning Trump's language, saying those were the sort of words that gave rise to Adolf Hitler.
Trump's presence Wednesday, his first meeting with a head of state abroad as a presidential candidate, sparked anger and protests across Mexico's capital city. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox bluntly told the celebrity businessman that, despite Peña Nieto's hospitality, he was not welcome.
"We don't like him. We don't want him. We reject his visit," Fox said on CNN, calling the trip a "political stunt."
Peña Nieto was less combative as he addressed reporters alongside Trump. He acknowledged the two men had differences and defended the contribution of Mexicans working in the United States, but he described the conversation as "open and constructive." He and Trump shook hands as the session ended.
Peña Nieto's performance came in for immediate condemnation from his many critics in Mexico.
" Peña ended up forgiving Trump when he didn't even ask for an apology," said Esteban Illades, the editor of Nexos magazine. "The lowest point of the most painful day in the history of the Mexican presidency."
After saying during his Republican primary campaign he would use a "deportation force" to expel all of the estimated 11 million people living in the United States illegally, Trump suggested last week he could soften that stance.
But he still says he plans to build a huge wall -- paid for by Mexico -- along the two nations' border. He is under pressure to clarify just where he stands in the Wednesday night speech, which had been rescheduled several times.
Campaigning in Ohio, Democrat Hillary Clinton jabbed at Trump's Mexican appearance as she promoted her own experience working with foreign leaders as the nation's chief diplomat.
"People have to get to know that they can count on you, that you won't say one thing one day and something totally different the next," she told the American Legion in Cincinnati.
Her campaign jumped on Peña Nieto's later tweet, too.
"It turns out Trump didn't just choke," said Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in a statement, "he got beat in the room and lied about it."
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