Will deport illegals: Trump

WASHINGTON: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump linked illegal immigration and employment on Saturday, pledging to start deporting offenders as soon as he is sworn in, should he be elected.

Trump also courted the black votes, claiming the shooting of basketball star Dwyane Wade’s cousin will make African Americans support him, but the move instead triggered a firestorm of criticism.

“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.

“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.”

“If we don’t enforce visa expiration dates, then we have an open border. It’s as simple as that,” he warned. “A vote for Trump is a vote to have a nation of laws, a vote for Clinton is a vote for open borders.”

Appealing to black voters, he promised to help them find jobs. “Every time an African American citizen, or any citizen, loses their job to an illegal immigrant, the rights of that American citizen have been totally violated,” he argued. AFP