Trump, 78, made the statement to Hispanic voters at a town hall event in Miami, before expressing support for continued legal immigration.
“We want workers and we want them to come in, but they have to come in legally,” the former president said at the forum hosted by Univision and broadcast in Spanish.
“They have to love our country. They have to love you, love our people,” Trump told a 64-year-old California farmer concerned about the continued availability of migrant labor and food prices if the former president were to win in November.
“The problem with this administration is they’ve totally lost control,” he added.
Trump argued that the surge in illegal border crossings under the Harris-Biden administration has put Hispanics in a fraught position.
“A lot of the jobs that you have and that other people have are being taken by these people that are coming in, and the African American population and the Hispanic population in particular, are losing jobs now because millions of people are coming in,” the GOP nominee said.
“They’re coming in, but they’re also coming in largely – in tremendous numbers coming in – out of mental institutions,” Trump claimed.
“They’re emptying out jails,” he continued. “Their jails are being let into our country – from Venezuela – but not just South America, from all over the world.”
“Nobody wants that,” Trump told the farmer. “And that doesn’t include the terrorists.”
“We have to have people that are great people coming into our country,” he argued.
“I want them in even more than you do. And we’re going to make it so that people can come into our country legally.”
Vice President Kamala Harris holds a 19-percentage point lead (56%-37%) over Trump with likely Hispanic voters, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released earlier this week.
However, among Hispanic men, Harris only holds a three-point advantage (48%-45%) over Trump.
The poll’s findings mark a significant decline from the level of support Hispanics have given Democrats in past election cycles.
