Trump sought to pit Black Americans against migrants in Chicago. It’s part of an ongoing GOP tactic

During Donald Trump’s Wednesday visit to Chicago, the former Republican president was asked why he came. “My message is to stop people from invading our country that are taking, frankly, a lot of problems with it,” Trump said while addressing a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists. “I will tell you that coming from the border are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking Black jobs.” While he did not mention Chicago by name, looming over his answer was the yearslong migrant crisis that has deeply affected the fabric of the nation’s third-largest city and become a lightning rod for debate here over immigration policy under President Joe Biden. It’s part of a recent tactic the GOP has especially directed at Black voters in an attempt to lay the problem at the feet of Democrats. Trump also leaned on a narrative of racial tension when questioning Vice President Kamala Harris’ identity as a biracial woman, generating his biggest controversy of the event. But throughout the half-hour appearance, the former president sought to bring the conversation back to immigration and warned that “the Black population is affected most by that.” Mayor Brandon Johnson was quick to...