Donald Trump announced new death penalty policies he would implement against illegal immigrants during a campaign event at the US-Mexico border on Thursday.
The former president traveled to Cochise County, Arizona, to highlight the stark differences between his immigration agenda and that of Vice President Kamala Harris.
During the 70-minute speech, Trump and the media stood in the scorching Southwestern sun as the former president spoke and brought victims of immigrant-related crimes to the podium to share their harrowing personal stories.
After families in Texas and Maryland revealed harrowing details of the brutal deaths of their loved ones at the hands of illegal immigrants, Trump announced policy priorities to prevent future tragedies.
“We will seal the border, stop the invasion, and launch the largest deportation effort in American history,” the former president said before adding that he would also “impose tough new sentences on criminal illegal immigrants.”
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump speaks during his visit to the southern border of the United States in Cochise County, Arizona, U.S., August 22, 2024. His remarks included new policies that would implement the death penalty for illegal immigrant criminals.
‘These include a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for anyone convicted of human trafficking, a guaranteed life sentence for anyone convicted of child trafficking, and the death penalty for anyone convicted of sex trafficking of children or women.’
The new death penalty proposals represent a significant escalation of his hardline immigration agenda.
But those aren’t the only new capital crimes he wants to see.
“We will also apply the death penalty to major drug traffickers and traffickers from other countries,” he told the crowd.
He also mentioned how other countries (whose names he did not mention) have clear warnings in their immigration applications.
“On his immigration papers there is a statement that says ‘death to drug dealers,'” Trump said.
He went on to talk about the warning, recalling how it was written in “big letters, big bold letters, 10 times the size of everything else on the page,” so that traffickers would know the consequences of their crimes.
“And those are the countries where they don’t have any drug problems,” he added.
Victims of migrant-related crimes, local law enforcement officers and former Border Patrol agents also spoke at the border speech.
The former president said he would like to see the death penalty for illegal immigrants who commit sex trafficking crimes involving women and children.
The new death penalty policies were particularly poignant considering the victims who flanked the former president during his speech at the border.
Rachel Morin, the Maryland mother of five who was raped and murdered before being dumped in a storm drain by an illegal immigrant, was celebrated by her mother Patty Morin at the event.
During her remarks commemorating her daughter’s life and horrific death, Patty broke down in tears, torn by grief.
Seeing the woman in shock, Trump gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek to comfort the distraught mother.
Patty noted that her daughter’s rape and murder by an illegal immigrant did not occur near the border, but 1,800 miles away in Maryland, where Rachel lived with her family.
“We are here because we are losing our mothers, our daughters, our children, at the hands of criminals, and that should not happen,” she said.
Patty Moring, Rachel Morin’s mother, described the immense pain she is experiencing after her daughter’s murder
Patty’s daughter, Rachel, was jogging on a trail near her home when she was raped and murdered by a migrant who was in the U.S. illegally.
As she recounted the story, Patty seemed agitated and her voice shook at times. As her tears began to flow, Trump tried to comfort the grieving woman.
After concluding his remarks and expressing his support for the former president, Trump leaned in to hug her and kissed her on the cheek before thanking her for sharing her story.
“We should be taking care of our country, of our people, and I think the only way to do that is to close this border and go back to the policies that were in place before.”
Moments later, another speaker from Houston, Texas, approached the microphone.
And the tears continued to flow.
The mother of 12-year-old rape and murder victim Jocelyn Nungaray, Alexis Nungaray, spoke out about the painful loss of her daughter at the hands of illegal immigrants in June.
“They had no reason to do what they did to Jocelyn,” said the mother, visibly upset by the matter.
“One had a monitor on his ankle. It didn’t prevent anything. So now I have to spend the rest of my life with my son always asking about his sister.”
Former President Donald Trump comforts Alexis Nungaray and James Guevara, mother and uncle of Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl who was killed by illegal immigrants in June, during an event on the southern border with Mexico
Following Nungaray’s remarks, the former president tried to console the mother, who also cried as she recounted the tragic murder of her daughter.
“I really want everyone to realize how important border control is, because we are losing very innocent people to things that shouldn’t be happening in the first place.”
“I really hope everyone can hear my pain,” Nungaray said as she fought back tears.
As the Texas mother appeared unsettled as she recalled the horrific details of her son’s death, Trump attempted to comfort her as she solemnly digested the horrific story.
Nungaray gave former President Trump a pin to wear on his suit with the image of Jocelyn
He immediately placed the commemorative pin on his lapel before addressing the media.
The former president quickly returned to the podium to offer further condolences.
“Jocelyn is in heaven now, looking down on us right now, and in her name and memory we will fight to protect every American daughter.”
“Kamala says she wants to talk about the future now, (but) these people want to go back to the past for sure.”
“We have no future with open borders and all the other problems.”