--- title: Donald Trump Mexico Border Visit Means Tough Sell in Laredo description: The GOP frontrunner enters a community outraged over his rhetoric canonical: https://time.com/3969560/donald-trump-mexico-border-laredo/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-23T14:52:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T03:56:02.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Mexico Border Visit Means Tough Sell in Laredo og:description: The GOP frontrunner enters a community outraged over his rhetoric og:url: https://time.com/3969560/donald-trump-mexico-border-laredo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltceec1f96bb5d2152/69885c225f570f58e5b1c91c/donald-trump22.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Mexico Border Visit Means Tough Sell in Laredo twitter:description: The GOP frontrunner enters a community outraged over his rhetoric twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltceec1f96bb5d2152/69885c225f570f58e5b1c91c/donald-trump22.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Faces Tough Sell in Latino City by Mexico Border > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:56 AM UTCPublished: Jul 23, 2015 2:52 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at his South Carolina campaign kickoff rally in Bluffton, S.C., on July 21, 2015. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at his South Carolina campaign kickoff rally in Bluffton, S.C., on July 21, 2015.Stephen B. Morton—AP by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:56 AM UTCPublished: Jul 23, 2015 2:52 PM UTC When Donald Trump visits the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday, he will be a guest in the most Latino city in America, where more than 91 percent of residents speak a language other than English at home. In other words, he is not likely to be welcomed with open arms. Trump, who has been on defense among Latinos after he called many illegal Mexican border-crossers rapists and criminals, plans to tour the city of nearly 250,000, which is about 96% Hispanic, to talk about his plans for border security. Rep. Henry Cuellar, the Democratic congressman who was born in Laredo, says the bombastic GOP presidential candidate could hardly have chosen a worse city. “Laredo is a special place,” Cuellar told TIME. “He’s going to see that the congressman from that area—that’s me—his parents were born in Mexico and became naturalized citizens. There are two Hispanic federal judges there, one of then born in Mexico. He’s going to see the border sheriff there, my brother, is Hispanic. Many of the CBP officers and law enforcement he’s meeting—a lot of them are Hispanics or of Mexican descent.” A [recent poll](http://fusion.net/story/167578/univision-poll-latino-voters-trump/) by Univision found that 79% of American Latino’s found Trump’s comments about border crossers offensive. Cuellar pointed to federal crime statistics rebutting Trump’s claims that the border area is less safe than the rest of the country. “When he talks about violence, Laredo had 3 murders per 100,000 \[in 2013\], as opposed to Washington, D.C., where he wants to have a new job, where it’s 16 per 100,000\. If you compare that to New York, where he lives, I can bet that Laredo is a lot safer.” In fact, the FBI’s listing top ten cities with the highest murder rate do not include a single city on the U.S.-Mexico border. ### See Donald Trump Hanging Out With Unlikely Celebrities  Donald Trump, owner of New York's Trump Tower, holds the bridle of a polo pony while talking to Andy Warhol on Nov. 4, 1983. Mario Suriani—AP  Donald Trump, Don King and Barbara Walters on Dec. 12, 1987. Ron Galella—Getty Images  Professional Wrestler Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant With Donald Trump. Russell Turiak—Getty Images  Heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, his wife, actress Robin Givens and Donald Trump, leave the New York State Supreme Court building on July 22, 1988. Charles Wenzelberg—AP  Developer Donald Trump is flanked by super middleweight champion Thomas Hearns, left, of Detroit, and Michael Olajide of Canada at a news conference in New York on Feb. 15, 1990. Timothy Clary—AP  Alec Baldwin is joined by Donald Trump and Melania Knauss at benefit for the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on October 8, 1999. Richard Corkery—NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images  Katie Couric, left, co-host of NBC-TV's "Today" show, is dressed like Donald Trump, right, during a spoof of his "The Apprentice" reality television show, on the morning program's annual Halloween segment on Oct. 29, 2004. Richard Drew—AP  Donald Trump and Larry King arrive at the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump in New York on March 9, 2011. Charles Sykes—AP  Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, left, and Donald Trump appear onstage at the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump in New York on March 9, 2011. Charles Sykes—AP  Snoop Dogg and Donald Trump arrive at the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump in New York on March 9, 2011. Charles Sykes—AP  Martha Stewart and Donald Trump at Richard "Skip" Bronson's, "The War at the Shore" Book Publication Party held at Loews Regency Hotel in New York City on June 11, 2012. Sylvain Gaboury—Sipa USA  Tiger Woods stands with Donald Trump as he holds the Gene Serazen Cup for winning the Cadillac Championship golf tournament on March 10, 2013, in Doral, Fla. Wilfredo Lee—AP  Donald Trump and recording artist and host Nick Jonas joke around onstage during the 2013 Miss USA pageant at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on June 16, 2013 in Las Vegas. Ethan Miller—Getty Images “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Trump said in his announcement speech. “They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Cuellar said that despite the rhetoric, the people of his city will still be respectful of the reality television star and real estate magnate. “He’s going to see that Laredo’s a welcoming city,” Cuellar told TIME. “No matter how extreme the positions are, they are going to treat him with respect. They are not going to agree with him at all, but they’ll be respectful.” “If he said we had to work on border security, a lot of people, including myself, would have agreed with him,” Cuellar continued. “But those words are very strong words and we are just offended by that type of language.” Trump’s trip is off to a rocky start even before his plane touches down. Trump planned to meet with the National Border Patrol Council Local 2455 Executive Board at the Laredo airport, before meeting with law enforcement after touring the border. In a statement, the union said it was backing out of all Trump events. “After careful consideration of all the factors involved in this event and communicating with members of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) at the National level, it has been decided by Local 2455 to pull out of all events involving Donald Trump,” the statement said. Trump responded in a statement blasting the union, claiming they were silenced by superiors. “Despite the great danger, Mr. Trump is traveling to Laredo, TX to proceed with the visit to the border,” he said in a statement. “It is unfortunate the local union of Border Patrol Agents received pressure at a national level not to participate and ultimately pulled out of today’s event. They are being silenced, and are very unhappy about it, as told directly to Mr. Trump. It can only be assumed that there are things the politicians in Washington do not want Americans to see or discuss. It shows that we are not even safe in our own country.” Cuellar said he encourages candidates to visit Laredo and the border, adding that Hillary Clinton, whom he is a “strong support of” visited twice during her 2008 run. “The border is about more than just more border security, it’s about commerce, about a dynamic place,” he said, saying candidates should visit to see that. “If you want to talk about violence, it’s a lot safer along the border than in other places.” “He’s a smart man. He’s a smart guy. He knows what words are going to bring reaction,” Cuellar said. “I don’t know if in his heart he really believes what he says, but he’s using words to get reaction in a Republican primary.” Cuellar scoffed at Trump’s assertion that he would win over the Latino vote in the general election. “Somebody who uses words like Trump,” he said, “will not win a general election.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3969560/donald-trump-mexico-border-laredo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3969560/donald-trump-mexico-border-laredo/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Faces Tough Sell in Latino City by Mexico Border","datePublished":"2015-07-23T14:52:31.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T03:56:02.000Z","description":"The GOP frontrunner enters a community outraged over his rhetoric","url":"https://time.com/3969560/donald-trump-mexico-border-laredo/","keywords":["Donald Trump","republicans","2016 Election","Immigration","Latinos"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltceec1f96bb5d2152/69885c225f570f58e5b1c91c/donald-trump22.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltceec1f96bb5d2152/69885c225f570f58e5b1c91c/donald-trump22.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump","caption":"Donald Trump","creditText":"Stephen B. 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