GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — Former president Donald Trump on Tuesday made his first visit to Grand Rapids of the 2024 race.
Speaking at DeVos Place downtown, he honed in on the issue of immigration and the U.S. border and shared what he feels is a contrast between his vision and the policies of President Joe Biden.
"Not one more innocent life should be lost to Biden migrant crime," Trump said. "The first step to restoring safety in America is to fire crooked Joe Biden. Get him out November 5, and we're going to get him out. We're going to have more people voting, I think, than anybody can even imagine."
Trump faulted the current president's administration for policies he and his allies believe have failed.
"We have a process," Michigan GOP Chair Peter Hoekstra said. "People should be processed into the country. You have to go through some kind of review. Open borders is not an immigration policy; it is chaos."
Trump connected his speech to the backdrop of a community in mourning after the body of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia was found on US-131 in Grand Rapids on the night of March 22.
Garcia, officials say, was allegedly murdered by her boyfriend, Brandon Ortiz-Vite, who officials later confirmed had entered the country illegally. Police said Ortiz-Vite confessed to Garcia's murder.
Trump and his allies made mention of Garcia, with Trump himself claiming he had spoken with some of her family.
Following the speech, a family member told 13 ON YOUR SIDE that this claim from Trump was not true.
"I can confirm and assure you he did not speak with me or my immediate family," the family member later told ABC News.
Additionally, such was a connection that's been condemned by Democrats and immigration activists.
The state's Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes responded to the visit, saying she believes it was motivated by self-interest.
"He only cares about himself, and whatever will help or do what he thinks will help his campaign," Barnes said. "And his goal here is to increase the rhetoric of anger and hate and to make people afraid, to make people vote out of fear and not out of confidence and comfort."
Other state Democrats also pushed back on the former president's decision to travel to Grand Rapids, saying they believe Trump is capitalizing on Garcia's death while also eclipsing the issue of domestic violence and what they see as his halt of a bipartisan border deal stuck in the U.S. Senate.
"Ruby Garcia's death was a horrible tragedy, and so is every life taken by violence, including domestic violence, regardless of who commits the crime, period," U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D) said ahead of Trump's speech. "But unfortunately, Donald Trump and [Make America Great Again] Republicans are hell-bent on exploiting Ruby's death for their own politics."
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