Trump shares ideas for ‘real immigration reform’

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump released a policy outline on Sunday detailing his “three core principles” on immigration reform.

“We are the only country in the world whose immigration system puts the needs of other nations ahead of our own,” Trump said in a statement on his website.

“Real immigration reform puts the needs of the working people — not wealthy globetrotting donors,” he added. “That must change.”

Trump, atop the GOP field in recent polls, including one released Sunday by Fox News, details a three-pronged attack focusing on securing America’s borders, increasing enforcement of immigration laws and putting the needs of current U.S. citizens first.

He reiterates his past criticisms of Mexico’s role in illegal immigration and details how the U.S. can force its government into building a wall on America’s southern border.

“For many years, Mexico’s leaders have been taking advantage of the United States by using illegal immigration to export the crime and poverty in their own country (as well as in other Latin American countries),” Trump said.

“The impact in terms of crime has been tragic,” he said. “Meanwhile, Mexico continues to make billions on not only our bad trade deals also relies heavily on the billions of dollars in remittances sent from illegal immigrants in the United States to Mexico ($22 billion in 2013 alone).

“In short, the Mexican government has taken the United States to the cleaners,” Trump added. “They are responsible for this problem, and they must help pay to clean it up.”

Trump’s policy outline also calls for stricter laws concerned with the handling of illegal immigrants.

“Millions of people come to the United States but refuse to leave, without consequence,” he said. “This is a threat to national security. Individuals who refuse to leave at the time their visa expires should be subject to criminal penalties.”

Trump’s strategy concludes that America’s immigration woes result in two threats — economic stagnation and undermined national security.

“The influx of foreign workers holds down salaries, keeps unemployment high and makes it difficult for poor and working class Americans — including immigrants themselves and their children — to earn a middle class wage,” he said.

“Additionally, we need to stop giving legal immigrant visas to people bent on causing us harm,” Trump added. “From the 9/11 hijackers, to the Boston Bombers and many others, our immigration system is being used to attack us.”

The GOP front-runner’s immigration remarks since entering the 2016 presidential race in June have sparked both international enthusiasm and outrage.

The release of Trump’s formal policy positions on Sunday follows criticism that his ideas on immigration are too vague.