Donald Trump ripped Hillary Clinton on illegal immigration Saturday, saying that her plans would effectively "abolish the borders around the country that she is supposed to be representing."
"The most fundamental duty of government is to protect American lives," Trump told a luncheon of The Remembrance Project at the Omni Hotel in Houston. The nonprofit draws attention to people killed by illegal immigrants.
"Anyone who fails to understand this is not fit to hold public office," Trump said. "Our nation should not accept one lost American life because our country failed to enforce its laws.
"Hillary Clinton is the person, and I mean the first person, to ever run for the presidency of a country effectively proposing to abolish the borders around the country that she is supposed to be representing."
Trump cited Clinton's plan to increase illegal immigration within her first 100 days of office, her support of sanctuary cities — "catch and release on the border, ignoring visa overstays and closing detention centers."
This would mark "a virtual end of immigration enforcement in the United States of America," he said.
Trump also said charged Clinton with allowing 13,000 criminal illegal aliens to be released from federal custody during her years as secretary of state.
The move, however, was forced by a 2001 Supreme Court decision, and carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security, not the State Department, according to FactCheck.org.
"She didn't want to get involved," Trump said. "Politicians. Politicians.
"She had the power and duty to stop it cold and she didn't.
"Your cause and your stories are ignored by our political establishment because they are determined to keep our border open at any cost," Trump later told the crowd.
"Help is coming."