Trump continues his dark anti-immigrant rhetoric at Arizona rally

Former President Donald Trump continued to escalate his dark and misleading rhetoric about Vice President Kamala Harris’ handling of illegal immigration and crime committed by migrants with remarks in Arizona on Sunday.

Trump, speaking at a rally in Prescott Valley, said Harris has been bringing in criminals from “dungeons all over the world” and again made the baseless claim that migrants have come in from jails, prisons or mental health facilities.

He argued that if Harris is elected president, “the entire country will be turned into a migrant camp.”

The former president repeated his claim that foreign countries are “releasing their prison populations into our country” and accused Venezuela of busing in street criminals and drug lords into the US.

In 2023, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung cited one source for the former president’s claim about prisons being emptied for migration purposes — an uncorroborated 2022 Breitbart article about a supposed federal intelligence report warning Border Patrol agents about freed violent prisoners from Venezuela who had then joined migrant caravans. Even if Venezuela had indeed freed prisoners to allow people to try to migrate to the US, that would be insufficient proof for Trump’s claim that some substantial number of Biden-era migrants are from prisons.

Trump also aired a video during the rally about the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which he’s claimed has overrun Aurora, Colorado, and terrorized the community. The rumor, which Trump and his allies have helped spread, has been disputed by residents and by the city’s Republican mayor.

CNN’s Daniel Dale contributed to this post.

Federal officials say there was no danger to Trump after man arrested with weapons near rally in California

Two federal officials told CNN there is no evidence at this time to indicate a man who was arrested on gun charges near Donald Trump’s Saturday rally in California was attempting to assassinate the former president.

In a joint statement with the FBI and Justice Department, the US Secret Service said that “former President Trump was not in any danger” at the rally.

The man, who authorities say was illegally possessing a shotgun, a loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine, was able to gain access to an initial perimeter near the rally in Coachella, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said Sunday.

Once the man, identified by the sheriff as 49-year-old Vem Miller of Las Vegas, made it to the second perimeter, authorities realized some “irregularities,” Bianco said. The interior of the car was in disarray, the vehicle was unregistered, and it had a fake license plate, according to Bianco.

Miller was in possession of multiple driver’s licenses and passports with different names, according to Bianco. It is unclear why Miller was in the area, according to Bianco, who said Miller claimed to be a journalist to gain entry to the rally.

Miller was taken into custody before Trump’s rally and charged with firearms offenses. He was later released on a $5,000 bail, according to the sheriff’s office.

CNN has repeatedly tried to reach Miller for comment. He is expected to appear in court on January 2, according to jail records.

Trump’s campaign thanked law enforcement on Sunday.

“We thank law enforcement for securing the rally site and helping ensure the safety of President Trump. We are aware of news reports about the arrest and are currently monitoring the situation and gathering more information,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told CNN.

This post and headline have been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Josh Campbell contributed to this report.

Springfield Haitians weigh their future as Trump threatens deportations

While Haitian immigrant Daniel Aula has found opportunity in Springfield, Ohio, he’s also found himself in the middle of a bitter national debate on immigration heading into November’s election, fueled in this case largely by rumors and threats.

The city of Springfield estimates there are between 12,000 and 15,000 immigrants living in Clark County, the county that holds Springfield, most of them believed to be Haitians arriving in just the past four years.

The image of a city dramatically altered by immigration has been seized upon by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who have made criticism of the Biden administration’s immigration policy a cornerstone of their campaign.

Springfield is Aula’s chance at a new life. He’s taking English classes, but he’s had so much to learn, namely how to get a job. Many in Springfield have been eager to help him, and to hire him.

Not long after he got to Springfield, Aula started working at Pentaflex, a company focused mainly on building metal stampings and assemblies for safety-related functions.

CEO Ross McGregor, whose family has been involved in manufacturing here for decades, has nothing but praise for his Haitian employees. To lose them would be a blow to his business, he told CNN. McGregor hired his first Haitian worker “three, four years ago” not because he sought them out specifically but because he needed dependable workers.

Still, many Haitian residents in Springfield live in fear of Trump’s threat of removal, unsure over their future and their safety.

Read more here.

Vance says history suggests Trump won't go after political opponents

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said Sunday that history suggests former President Donald Trump won’t go after his political opponents if he is elected while baselessly accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of targeting her own political opponents.

As CNN previously reported, Trump has threatened prosecution and “long-term prison sentences” for election officials and political operatives, who he suggested could cheat in the 2024 election.

“He said that people who violated our election laws will be prosecuted. I think that’s the administration of law. He didn’t say, ‘People are going to go to jail because they disagree with me,’” Vance said.

The Ohio senator again refused to say Trump lost the 2020 election: “I’ve been asked this question 10 times in the past couple of weeks. Of course, Donald Trump and I believe there were problems in 2020. … I believe that in 2020, when Big Tech firms were censoring American citizens, that created very serious problems.”

Harris and Walz to spread across "blue wall" states this week

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will spread across the Midwestern battleground states this week, traveling to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, a campaign official told CNN.

The visits include a Tuesday trip by Harris to Michigan, where she’ll meet with Black entrepreneurs in Detroit and attend an event alongside radio host Charlamagne tha God. That same day, Walz will make a stop in Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July.

Joining Harris and Walz on the campaign trail this week will be former President Barack Obama, who will make stops in Arizona on Friday and travel to Nevada on Saturday for the first day of early voting.

Here’s the campaign’s schedule:

Harris:

Monday: Rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Tuesday: Meeting with Black entrepreneurs in Detroit and event with Charlamagne tha God.

Wednesday: Pennsylvania visit.

Thursday: Stops in Milwaulkee, La Crosse and Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Friday: Stops in Grand Rapids, Lansing and Oakland County, Michigan.

Saturday: Stops in Detroit and Atlanta.

Walz:

Monday: Stops in Eau Clair and Green Bay, Wisconsin, to mark the launch of a bus tour of fellow Democratic governors campaigning for Harris.

Tuesday: Stops in Volant, Butler and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Wednesday: Campaign reception in Washington, DC.

Thursday: Stops in Durham and Winston-Salem, NC to mark the start of early voting.

Saturday: Stop in Nebraska’s key 2nd Congressional District.