Trump to campaign on immigration in Grand Rapids next week 

Former President Donald Trump will hold a campaign rally in Grand Rapids next week as he seeks to highlight the death of a local woman authorities allege was murdered by her boyfriend who was in the country illegally.

According to a press release, Trump will “deliver Remarks on Biden’s Border Bloodbath in Grand Rapids” on Tuesday, referring to his likely general election opponent, President Joe Biden.

Michigan State Police say the body of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia was found last Friday along southbound US-131 near downtown Grand Rapids. A subsequent investigation led to the arrest of 25-year-old Brandon Ortiz-Vite in Fennville on Sunday morning. MSP says the pair were “in a romantic relationship at the time of the crime.” Ortiz-Vite is being held without bond after being charged with multiple felonies in Garcia’s death, including felony murder, open murder and carjacking. 

Presidential campaign moves to the border, as Biden urges Trump to back immigration deal

Garcia’s death, like that of Georgia college student Laken Riley in February, became a right-wing talking point after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Ortiz-Vite had originally been arrested in Detroit by federal agents in August 2020 for being in the country illegally, and was deported to Mexico the following month.

Trump and Republicans are campaigning on harsh immigration policies, seeking to portray Biden as weak on crime and allowing what has been termed an “invasion” across the southern border with Mexico. 

That same phrasing was used this week by staunch Trump ally, state Rep. Matt Maddock (R-Milford), when he wrongly referred to members of the Gonzaga University basketball team as “illegal invaders” after posting a picture of their aircraft landing at Detroit Metro Airport Wednesday night as they prepared to compete in the NCAA’s Sweet 16 Midwest Regional basketball tournament being held at Little Caesars Arena over the weekend.

Trump’s use of the phrase “bloodbath” has already created controversy, having used it most recently at a rally in Ohio when he said if he loses the presidential election, “it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.” Many interpreted Trump’s comments as a threat that he would incite another Jan.  6, 2021-style insurrection if President Biden is reelected in November. Trump and his GOP allies, however, strongly denied that, claiming the comment was in regards to the economic threat Chinese electric cars posed to the U.S auto industry. 

“Voters understand that President Biden worked with Republicans to negotiate the toughest and fairest bill to secure the border in decades, it was Donald Trump who ordered his MAGA allies to kill it because he doesn’t care about border security – he only cares about seeking revenge and retribution,” said Lavora Barnes, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. 

The bipartisan border security bill had been negotiated at the behest of Senate Republicans, offering an overhaul of the immigration system for the first time in decades. It included, among other things, $6.7 billion for U.S. Customs and Border Protection with $723 million of that to hire additional border patrol officers and for overtime pay. It also would have provided $440 million to hire additional immigration judges and support staff to help clear the backlog of cases. 

Despite receiving support from the union representing border agents, the bill was rejected by GOP Senators after Trump publicly rebuked the deal.

Trump’s last visit to Michigan was Feb. 18, when he held a rally at a hangar in Waterford Township in Oakland County, during which he railed against the ongoing criminal prosecutions against him, as well as stoking fear about migrant workers, despite recent research that indicates immigrants actually commit fewer crimes than people born in the U.S.

Biden last came to Michigan on March 14 when he did small events in Saginaw.