President Donald Trump was in Yuma Tuesday, his second visit here in the past two months to discuss immigration and border security.
Before a supportive crowd of about 1,000 people inside the Joe Foss Hangar in Yuma, Trump said his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, cannot be trusted on the border.
“Joe Biden is the puppet of the Radical Left wing movement that seeks the complete elimination of America's borders and boundaries," Trump said. "They want to take the wall down. They don't want to have borders. They want to have sanctuary cities."
Trump said he received the endorsement of the National Border Patrol Council. He said about 280 miles of "powerful border wall" have been completed.
He said under his administration, illegal border crossings have been reduced 60 percent.
"The Biden plan would unleash a flood of illegal immigration like the world has never seen," he added.
Trump said in Yuma, his administration has invested $1.7 billion to build 108 miles of the border wall.
Before his speech, Trump received a briefing inside an adjacent airplane hanger with sections of border fencing from U.S. Border Patrol officials. He last visited in June where he visited an actual section of the fence near San Luis.
Trump supporters filled the Joe Foss Hangar. Many wore face masks, some with Trump or MAGA (Make America Great Again) written on them. They held campaign signs including "Latinos For Trump" and "Promises Kept."
Elizabeth Riordon said she drove from Sierra Vista south of Tucson and was lucky to get inside the venue.
"Sierra Vista, we are very close to the border," Riordon said. "In fact, I can walk to the border from my house. And we know the dangers at the border. And the wall is very important. It protects us.”
Other supporters were bussed in from Tucson and some made the drive from San Diego.
Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls, who is a Roman Catholic Deacon at St. Francis Parish in Yuma, led the audience in prayer. Others in attendance included Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot and U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar and Arizona Republican Chairwoman Kelli Ward, who met with volunteers at Yuma GOP headquarters on Monday to talk about registering more voters for November.
There was no organized protest from Yuma area Democrats, however, Progress Arizona, a group that says it promotes progressive ideas, placed two digital billboards in Yuma with a simple message: "Bye Trump".
