Trump Plans Campaign Rally In Texas Border City Of El Paso

AUSTIN, TEXAS — The White House said Monday that Donald Trump will stage his first campaign rally of the year next week in the Texas city of El Paso — an area he has erroneously claimed as having curbed undocumented immigration through a use of a wall of the type he wants built along the entire stretch of the U.S. southern border.

During his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump cited El Paso as once having "...extremely high rates of violent crime" that was mitigated by construction of a wall there. As a result of that construction, "El Paso is one of the safest cities in our country," he asserted.

The assertions have been widely debunked as false at worst and overstated at best. In fact, El Paso has never been deemed to be among the nation's most dangerous cities, law enforcement officials have said and the data show. What's more, as many have pointed out, historical violent crime trends in El Paso mirror those nationally rather than being an aberration from the norm.

As has been reported widely, the city in 2005 had a murder rate of 2.5 for every 100,000 residents, compared with a national rate of 5.6. Two years after construction of a wall there, in 2010, the murder rate had saw a continuation in a steady decline — dropping to 0.9 for every 100,000 residents, compared with a national average of 4.8.

“El Paso has been one of the safest cities in the nation long before the wall was built in 2008," Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from Texas, tweeted in response to Trump's erroneous claims. She added the hashtag: #WallsDontWork.

In a prepared statement, Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, also took issue with Trump's widely debunked and repeated claims: “El Paso is safe due to its people, the good community relations with law enforcement, and the trust of all communities in our local institutions,” Garcia said. “El Pasoans should be offended by the way the president used our community to advance his racist and xenophobic agenda.”

Austin-based Workers Defense Project — a nonprofit advocating for undocumented immigrants and laborers — also rebuked Trump's false claims in a Facebook postt: "Being a border city is El Paso’s strength, not weakness," Its proximity to Juárez, Mexico has made it one of the country’s safest cities and helps workers earn a living. We don't need Trump's hateful rhetoric and divisive walls at our border."

In spite of the backlash, Trump has scheduled his rally in El Paso on Feb. 11. The El Paso Times newspaper reported the event is to be staged at the county coliseum. The event is seen as a move to build support for his wall plans along the southern border, coming days before a second government shutdown might occur if he fails again to secure congressional funding to launch his signature project.

Trump has made much of his desire to build a wall along the nearly 2,000-mile border with Mexico, a campaign promise he made to his base he now seems intent to fulfill. The federal government shut down for 35 days last month after Congress failed to appropriate more than $5 billion for his wall project, leading to hundreds of thousands of government workers to go without paychecks for a protracted amount of time. Trump has threatened a second government shutdown on Feb. 15 if he once more fails to secure an earmark for wall construction from Congress.

With a population of some 700,000 residents, El Paso is a mere 9.3 miles from the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez in the state of Chihuahua. Despite Trump's painting the Texas city as a hotbed of violence given its proximity to Mexico, the site SmartTravel reports the city "...is relatively safe in the daytime. But like any large city, there are areas you should avoid at night."

As for Ciudad Juárez, the site Perfect Days acknowledged its past drug-related violence, but notes it's safer than many cities in the U.S.: "Most of the past violence in Juarez is directly related to illegal drug trafficking. However, the city has been able to turn this around remarkably fast since 2011. ... Juarez is safe. it is safer than many U.S. cities, especially for tourists."

Trump has a long history of evoking the specter of undocumented immigration as a rallying point while demonizing migrants. He launched his campaign for president falsely painting Mexicans entering the U.S. illegally as a monolith comprising rapists and criminals — a red-meat issue that helped energize his base — despite the existence of numerous studies proving that immigrants commit crimes at exponentially lower rates than those native to the U.S.

Yet, despite the inaccuracy of his claims, the issue continues to incite Trump's supporters to his political benefit. The president's campaign manager, Brad Parscale, said in a tweet that the rally was to be staged “...less than 1,000 feet from the successful border fence that keeps El Paso safe!”

Trump also has a friendly audience among the Republican-led Texas Legislature, where Gov. Greg Abbott has distinguished himself in cracking down on so-called "sanctuary cities" he views as too soft on immigration enforcement. In the last legislative session, Abbott made the crackdown a priority issue of his mandate.

Related stories:

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Texas Governor Makes Good On Grants Cut-Off Threat To County Amid Immigration Feud With Sheriff

Texas Governor Signs Far-Reaching Anti-Immigration Law On Facebook Live

Texas Attorney General Files Suit To Deter Sanctuary Cities Law Legal Challenges

As part of his immigration crackdown initiative, Abbott has zeroed in on Travis County of which the city of Austin is the county seat — the one prominent political blue dot in Texas amid a sea of Republican red. Lambasting the county sheriff for not cooperating aggressively with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, he stripped the county of state funding upon agencies relied in retaliation for what he viewed as lax immigration enforcement.

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>>> Photo credit: Evan Vucci/Associated Press