Trump says US is ‘like a garbage can for the world’ as he rails against illegal immigration

(CNN) — Former President Donald Trump said Thursday the US is “like a garbage can for the world” as he railed against illegal immigration at a campaign rally in Arizona.

“We’re a dumping ground. We’re like a garbage can for the world. That’s what’s happened,” Trump said at the event in Tempe, as he criticized the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the border.

“Every time I come up and talk about what they’ve done to our country I get angry and angrier,” he continued. “First time I’ve ever said garbage can. But you know what? It’s a very accurate description.”

The remark, coming less than two weeks from Election Day, marks the latest escalation in Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric as he’s made border security central to his bid to return to the White House.

Trump, who has used dehumanizing language to describe undocumented immigrants since his 2016 campaign, has sought to paint undocumented immigrants in broad strokes as murderers, people from “insane asylums,” and dangerous, while regularly saying on the campaign trail that there is an “invasion” taking place. He has promised an immigration crackdown if reelected, saying earlier this year that he wants to deport 15 to 20 million people, drastically higher than the 1.5 million deportations during his presidency.

He has also repeated unsubstantiated claims about Haitian immigrants eating the pets of residents in Springfield, Ohio, which were first fueled by his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. And earlier this month, Trump suggested that undocumented immigrants who commit murder have “bad genes.”

In the final stretch of the race, Trump has zeroed in on immigration, pitching to voters that closing the border and kicking out those who illegally crossed it are the most pressing priorities for the country. And in doing so, he repeatedly blames his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, for the influx of undocumented migrants, including inaccurately casting her as being “in charge of the border.”

The Biden-Harris administration has seen a record number of illegal border crossings, with the flow only beginning to shrink after the administration in June largely shut off access to asylum for migrants who cross the border illegally, using the same authority Trump tried to use during his time in office.

During CNN’s town hall Wednesday, Harris stressed that “American’s immigration system is broken” and argued that a bipartisan agreement from Congress is needed when asked if the Biden administration should have done more on the issue sooner.

She contrasted that with Trump’s record on border security where she mocked the former president, who was invited but declined to participate in a CNN town hall, for failing to fulfill his promise to build a border wall across the United States’ southern border and make Mexico pay for it.

Harris also pushed back on the idea that she was soft on border security and immigration, saying “people have to earn it” in gaining American citizenship and that she wanted “to strengthen our border.”

CNN’s Steve Contorno contributed to this report.

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