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Trump says no one immune from enforcement

Posted at 10:48 PM, Aug 31, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-01 00:04:06-04

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Latest on the U.S. presidential campaign 

10:40 p.m.

Donald Trump is reaffirming that people in the U.S. illegally cannot receive legal status, despite recently suggesting he might be softening his stance on immigration.

Trump is telling thousands of supporters in Phoenix that "you cannot obtain legal status by entering the country illegally."

His immigration plan will not offer a path to legal status or citizenship: "There will be no amnesty."
   Those here illegally have "one route and one route only: To return home and apply for re-entry like anybody else."

Trump says the United States welcomes immigrants but "they have to come into our country legally and properly vetted and in a manner that serves the national interest."

10:20 p.m.

Donald Trump is continuing his tough talk on immigration, saying that anyone who entered the country illegally "will be subject to deportation" if he's elected president.

Trump is delivering a long-awaited speech on immigration and says that "no one" among the 11 million people who are in the United States illegally "will be immune or exempt from enforcement" on his watch.

But Trump says he will set priorities for removing people from the United States.
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10:10 p.m.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he will order the immediate detention of all known immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have been arrested for crimes.

He says on the first day in office he will "issue detainers for illegal immigrants who are arrested" and initiate immediate proceedings to remove them.

For people caught crossing the border illegally, Trump referenced the 1950s-era "Operation Wetback." He said that "we will take them great distances" instead of sending them just across the U.S. border.

Trump said, "We will take them to the country where they came from."

He said his administration will take a hard line on criminal aliens. He said the U.S. will be "moving them out on Day One."

To thunderous applause, Trump continues that he will seek legislation to block federal funding for so-called sanctuary cities that shelter immigrants in the country illegally.
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10:00 p.m.

Donald Trump continues to insist that Mexico will pay for the wall he wants to build along the length of the southern border.

Trump says during a speech on immigration that Mexico will pay for the wall, "100 percent."

He says, "They don't know it yet, but they're going to pay for" it.

Trump met with Mexico's president earlier Wednesday and said they did not discuss who would pay for the massive wall that has been at the center of Trump's campaign.

But President Enrique Pe±a Nieto said he reiterated to Trump that Mexico would not be paying for the wall.
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9:55 p.m.

Donald Trump says the nation's immigration policy must focus on what is best for American citizens, not those living in the country illegally.

He says, "There is only one core issue in the immigration debate and that issue is the well-being of the American people." 

Still he says that he intends to treat "everyone living or residing" in the country with "great dignity."

Trump is also accusing President Barack Obama and his rival Hillary Clinton of engaging in a "gross dereliction of duty" for supporting more liberal immigration policies.

He says that Clinton talks about the families that would be separated if people in the country illegally were deported, but she doesn't talk about families impacted negatively by illegal immigration.

Just days ago, Trump was praising the number of people deported under the Obama administration.

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9:50 p.m.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is opening his long-awaited immigration policy speech by detailing the stories of illegal immigrants who committed violent crimes.

Trump is telling thousands in the convention center in downtown Phoenix that he has "met with many of the great parents who lost their children to sanctuary cities and open borders."

He talked about beatings and stabbings of young women, then said simply, "It's not going to happen anymore."

Before Trump took the stage, families of such victims addressed the audience, describing how their children or loved ones were killed and thanking Trump for his promise to enforce the U.S.-Mexican border.

Trump is emphasizing illegal immigrants accused of crimes, an issue of far less controversy than what to do with the millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have not been accused of crimes.
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9:40 p.m.

Donald Trump says that he had a "thoughtful and substantive" conversation with Mexico's president on Wednesday as he kicks off a long-awaited speech on immigration.

Trump says his surprise meeting with Enrique Pe±a Nieto included a discussion of stopping the flow of illegal drugs across the southern border, and a shared goal to put drug cartels out of business.

Trump launched his campaign with a speech that accused Mexico of sending its rapists and criminals across the border.

But Trump is striking a different tone Wednesday, saying that, if the countries work together, "we're all going to win."
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7:05 p.m.

The president of Mexico says Donald Trump wasn't telling the truth when he described their Wednesday conversation.

Specifically, President Enrique Pe±a Nieto said that he and Trump did indeed discuss who would pay for construction of a massive wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. That's the centerpiece of Trump's immigration plan.

Trump and Pe±a Nieto met privately in Mexico City on Wednesday afternoon.

When they emerged from the meeting, Trump told reporters they discussed the wall, but not paying for it.

Hours later, Pe±a Nieto tweeted his version: "At the beginning of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made clear that Mexico would not pay for the wall."

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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6:50 p.m.

Donald Trump "choked" in Mexico.

That's according to Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, who says the Republican presidential nominee "doesn't have the courage to advocate for his campaign promises when he's not in front of a friendly crowd."

Trump defended his plan to build a wall on the United States' southern border during his Wednesday visit with the president of Mexico. But the New York businessman did not push his oft-mentioned promise to force Mexico to pay for the wall.

Podesta says "Trump choked" in what was his first opportunity to make good on "his offensive campaign promises."
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4:55 p.m.

Mexican President Enrique Pe±a Nieto says the Mexican people have been hurt by Donald Trump's past comments that painted them in a negative light.

Pe±a Nieto told reporters following a closed-door meeting that "misinterpretation or assertions" had negatively impacted perceptions of Trump's candidacy.

He added that, the "Mexican people have been hurt by the comments that had been made." But he said he's sure that Trump is genuinely interested in building a relationship that will benefit both countries. 

Pe±a Nieto spoke in Spanish throughout.
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4:40 p.m.

After meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pe±a Nieto, Republican nominee Donald Trump says that both countries must respect the others' right to build a border wall on their soil to stop the movement of people, illegal drugs and weapons.

Trump says he and Pe±aNieto discussed his call for a border wall during their meeting, but did not talk about Trump's insistence that Mexico pay for it. He says, "that'll be for a later date."

Trump says that having a secure border is a sovereign right and mutually beneficial. Mexicans have been outraged by the proposal.
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4:35 p.m.

Republican Donald Trump is calling his surprise visit to Mexico City Wednesday a `great honor.' And he says the nations share a common interest in keeping the hemisphere safe and prosperous.

The Republican presidential nominee said after meeting with President Enrique Pe±a Nieto that the pair had a substantive, direct and constructive exchange of ideas at the president's official residence in Mexico City.

This is Trump's first foreign visit as his party's nominee.
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4:30 p.m.

Mexican President Enrique Pe±a Nieto is challenging Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's characterization of the situation on the U.S.-Mexican border.

Pe±a Nieto notes that the number of immigrants crossing the border illegally is down significantly "even to the point of being negative to a net effect." He spoke at a joint appearance Wednesday at the president's official residence.

While Pe±a Nieto says the countries have shared challenges, he says that there exists "an incomplete vision of the border issues," with weapons and cash flowing south from the U.S. and fueling violence.

He's also stressing U.S. exports to Mexico and the number of jobs reliant on the countries' trade relationship.

He says the Mexican people are people of "good will" who "deserve everybody's respect."
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4:20 p.m.

Mexican President Enrique Pe±a Nieto says that he and Donald Trump may not agree on everything, but that their meeting underscores their countries' shared interests.

Pe±a Nieto tells reporters that their meeting with the Republican nominee at the president's official residence in Mexico City was "open and constructive."

He says in Spanish that the next president "will find in Mexico and its government" a neighbor who "wants to work constructively to strengthen even more" the relationship between their nations.
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2:55 p.m.

An official at the Mexico City international airport says a private plane carrying Republican candidate Donald Trump has touched down at the airport.

The official was not authorized to be quoted by name, nor did he provide the plane's registry number, or say how Trump would reach the official residence of President Enrique Pena Nieto, where the meeting with the Mexican leader is to take place.

Pena Nieto's office has confirmed there will be a meeting and subsequent press statement at the residence, which is across town from the airport.

Trump appeared likely to fly to the residence by helicopter, rather than cross town in any kind of motorcade.
  

--By E. Eduardo Castillo in Mexico City
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Trump doubles down on his 'giant wall' talk