Trump to tour part of Texas-Mexico border
Donald Trump travels Thursday to the place he says is fueling his presidential bid: the Mexican border.
The insurgent Republican candidate will visit Laredo, Texas, where he will receive a tour and meet with local law enforcement officials.
When he announced his candidacy last month, Trump's comments that Mexico is sending "criminals" and "rapists" across the border drew condemnation from Republicans and Democrats alike.
Trump says his emphasis on illegal immigration are a big reason he has risen to the top of Republican presidential polls.
"A chapter of the National Border Patrol Council, the agency's union, invited Trump earlier this month to tour one of the most active parts of the border with the agents who work there. Hector Garza, the president of the chapter, told CNN earlier this month that he wanted 'to give Donald Trump a state of the border" and a "boots on the ground perspective.'
Garza, a border patrol agent, said his invitation was not an endorsement of Trump's presidential run, saying that his group regularly invites politicians -- including previous tours with GOP Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Blake Farenthold of Texas.