Trump to visit Border Patrol facility in Arizona

President Trump will visit a Border Patrol facility in Arizona on Tuesday as he ramps up his push to get Congress to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The stop comes ahead of a campaign-style event in Phoenix, where he’ll rally supporters amid one of the most difficult periods of his turbulent presidency.  

Trump will view Border Patrol equipment, including a Predator drone and a boat, in the border city of Yuma and meet with Border Patrol officials and military service members before traveling to Phoenix.

He’ll be joined by White House chief of staff John Kelly, the former Homeland Security secretary, and half a dozen other aides and Cabinet officials.

{mosads}Administration officials would not say whether Trump will travel to a stretch of the border near Yuma, which is protected by a fence. 

The area around the Arizona city is considered a success story by the Border Patrol because new security measures there, including the physical barrier, have reduced illegal crossings. 

During the presidential campaign, Trump ignited crowds with his promise to build a large wall along the southern border and force Mexico to pay for it. But since then, Trump has backed off the demand that Mexico pay for the wall, even as the project struggles to win funding in Congress.

Administration officials also credited Trump’s directives to crack down on enforcement with an uptick in apprehensions near Yuma in the first seven months of the year.

The trip is an opportunity for Trump to focus on an issue — immigration — that excites his core supporters. 

But some in Washington and Arizona worry that Trump could ignite tensions by pardoning controversial former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an early Trump supporter who was found guilty of defying a court order to stop racially profiling. 

Arpaio, a well-known figure in Phoenix, has long faced accusations of racially profiling Latinos, which he denies. 

A White House spokesperson declined to say whether Trump plans to issue a pardon to Arpaio at the rally. 

The Phoenix rally is already expected to draw massive demonstrations, in part because of the president’s response to violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

Trump called for national unity in a Monday night speech announcing his new plan for the Afghanistan war. 

“The young men and women we send to fight our wars abroad deserve to return to a country that is not at war with itself at home,” he said. “We cannot remain a force for peace in the world if we are not at peace with each other.”