Trump warns countries dumping prisoners in U.S. as 'lazy' Harris ignores the border

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday warned that the U.S. had become a dumping ground for the prison populations of other nations and lamented the influx of violent criminals to the country and the consequences for average American citizens.

Trump made the remarks at Montezuma Pass in Arizona amid the Democratic National Convention.

"We're here today on the southern border in Arizona, where comrade Kamala Harris... She wants open borders," Trump said. "I don't understand why anybody would want it, but she wants our country to be open to the world's criminals, so they can come in and rape and pillage and do whatever they have to do. But she's the most radical left person who has ever run for high political office in our country's history. "

"Our criminals all of a sudden don't look so tough to us, right? These are the roughest people, and they're the roughest people from all over the world," he went on. "Their jails are being emptied from all over the world. The criminals are being taken from their cities, and by the way, their crime rates are way down. Their crime rates came way down. Venezuela all of these countries, their crime rates are down. Their prison populations down. Soon they won't have any prison population, because 100% of it will be in our country."

He then pinned the blame on Harris, whom he said had neglected her duties to secure the border.

"We had a border czar," he began, referencing Vice President Kamala Harris. "Who was the borders czar? She loved the title, but she didn't want to do the work, or she's lazy. And probably more importantly than being lazy, she wants to have an open border. And you say, 'Who would want an open border where criminals can pour into our country?'"

He then encouraged attendees to observe the crossings at the border, but warned "[y]ou'll be running back here very quickly."

Present at the event was Patty Morin, the mother of the late Rachel Morin, whom authorities have alleged was murdered by an illegal immigrant. Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, has been charged with her 2023 death.

Morin subsequently spoke and recalled the loss of her daughter.

The event in Cochise County came as part of Republican counterprogramming to the Democratic National Convention. Earlier in the day Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, spoke at a separate event on immigration. Tech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy and former U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States Carlos Trujillo further held a press conference at Trump Tower in Chicago.