The heartbroken father of a high school student gunned down by an illegal alien is introducing Donald Trump at his Saturday speech in Phoenix, where the brash billionaire will take on immigration – and his Republican rivals.
CNN reports
Jamiel Shaw Sr., the father of the standout Los Angeles high school football star killed in 2008 by an illegal immigrant gangbanger, met with Trump on Friday and was asked to introduce the
event in Arizona.
"He's speaking for the dead. He's speaking for my son," the father said, CNN reports. "He's speaking for the people who can't speak for themselves that demand that somebody do something."
The GOP presidential candidate's campaign handed out more than 9,000 tickets to his Saturday speech at Arizona's Phoenix Convention Center,
The Washington Post reports.
Trump adviser Sam Nunberg tells the Post Trump's goal is to be a conduit for the conservatives in the GOP who feel like outsiders, especially on immigration.
"His persona is a mix of Ross Perot and Ronald Reagan," Nunberg tells the Post. "A successful businessman disliked by the elites, a natural communicator, and someone who speaks for and is part of the conservative base."
The Post reports that by Saturday morning, the campaign had handed out more than 9,000 free tickets to the event in Arizona, the heart of the debate over border security.
But on
craigslist.com in Phoenix, scalpers were offering the free ducats for up to $100.
A Fox News affiliate said it would live-stream the speech on You Tube,.
Website
theconservativetreehouse.com said it'll run an open conversation thread on its site.
Joining Trump on the convention center stage will be
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who the Post notes, "built a national profile with his aggressive efforts to hunt down and deport undocumented immigrants in the Phoenix area."
The Post, quoting unnamed sources, said Trump will restate his vow to build a wall across at the U.S. southern border with Mexico, and attack Jeb Bush for having said many immigrants come to the United States out of an
"act of love." Trump will also criticize Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for once advocating comprehensive immigration reform, and accuse Rick Perry of being weak and unable to secure his state's border with Mexico.
He'll also make the case that other
candidates are beholden to big donors and corporate lobbyists who are advocating comprehensive immigration reform.
And Trump tells Bloomberg he'll speak without a prepared text.
"I have a very great memory," he told
the news outlet.
Prior to the Phoenix campaign event, Trump will be at the Freedom Fest in Las Vegas, a gathering of Libertarian-minded activists.
A hint of the Saturday speech came the previous day, after Trump met with families of victims killed by undocumented immigrants, including Shaw.
At Friday's press conference, Trump claimed Mexico was sending its criminals to the United States, CNN reports.
"The fact that they are sending criminals and prisoners into our country and there are people stupid enough to put them in jails or let them roam the street, which is even worse, I have to respect (Mexico) for it," Trump said.
"I don't know if you know, (former Cuban leader Fidel) Castro, many years ago, opened up his prisons and sent his prisoners to the United States," he continued. "In a much more sophisticated manner, Mexico is doing the same thing."
Twitter lit up with anticipation.
Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, answering a tweet from
Alex Burns of The New York Times saying "Trump going into Arizona tinderbox wielding flamethrowers in both hands,"replied:
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