Trump at the border

Around 12:45 p.m. today, President Donald Trump arrived for the first time in the Rio Grande Valley at the McAllen Miller International Airport to address what he calls a “humanitarian crisis” on the U.S. southern border.

Although a few minutes earlier than expected, Trump stepped out of Air Force One, the presidential airplane, accompanied by Republican U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Wearing a white cap and a black jacket, Trump made his way to a group of previously selected supporters who were waiting for him a few yards away from where he landed.

Among them were Adriana Loera, from the Starr County city of Roma, and her husband, Rolando Loera, a police officer. Adriana received a red hat with the slogan, “Make America Great Again,” which bore Trump’s autograph.

“[I’m] very excited,” she said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We are very excited and we support him.”

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, McAllen Mayor Jim Darling and Mission Mayor Armando O’Caña were some of the dignitaries who arrived at the airport minutes before Trump’s visit.

Patrick told reporters the situation regarding the U.S.-Mexico border is a real crisis.

“Five hundred thousand people were apprehended just in the last year, from San Diego to Brownsville,” he said. “The state troopers apprehended or seized 94½ pounds of Fentanyl last year. If you break that down, that’s 21 million lethal cases, I mean lethal doses.”

He said that is only a small portion of the total amount of drugs that come into the country.

“This is a real crisis and the Democrats and the media … they either deny the facts or they’re smart enough to figure it out, or they’re deceiving the public ’cause they know the truth and they’re lying to the American public.”

Patrick said he expected to see Trump today and talk to him to come up with a solution to the crisis.

Earlier today, as security, airport officials and the media prepared for the president’s visit, a group of about 50 Trump supporters showed up at a La Plaza Mall sidewalk, across from the airport on Wichita Avenue and South 10th Street, to show their support for the president.

Similarly, a group of protesters arrived at the scene to express their discontent with the president’s proposals, such as the border wall, which is probably his most famous campaign promise.

Bianca Castro, a UTRGV psychology senior and member of the No Border Wall Movement, the Young Democratic Socialists of America and the Industrial Workers of the World, said she attended the protest to stand with the community against Trump.

Asked what she would tell Trump if she had the chance to speak with him, Castro replied, “Give up your seat. Abolish your presidency.”

She does not agree with Trump’s request for $5.7 billion to fund the border wall in order to stop the government shutdown, now in its 20th day.

“He’s proven once again that he won’t stand for the working class,” Castro said. “He won’t stand for the proletariat, for the people who make this country run. I think that it’s petty that … he’s using [the border wall] to shut down the government.”

At 1 p.m., Trump left the McAllen airport escorted by security to then meet with several officials at the McAllen U.S. Border Patrol station to discuss his case on border security and the wall.

He departed for Washington, D.C., around 4 p.m­­­­­.

Para la versión en español de este artículo, oprima aquí.