Donald Trump has vowed to swiftly deport migrants from Springfield, Ohio, the city at the centre of the controversy over claims Haitians are eating pets.
The Republican candidate said Springfield and Aurora in Colorado, which he claimed had been overrun by criminal gangs, would be top of the list for deportations.
The plans would form part of the largest mass deportation in the country’s history, he told reporters at his golf club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
The former president showed no sign of backing down from his claims that migrants had been eating pets in Springfield, despite accusations that his allegations had triggered violence in the city.
He repeated his claims that the migrants were wreaking havoc.
“In Springfield, Ohio 20,000 illegal migrants have descended upon a town of 58,000 people,” he said.
“They’ve destroyed the place, and people don’t like to talk about it, because even the town doesn’t like to talk about it because it sounds so bad for the town,” he added.
“We will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio, large deportations. We’re gonna get these people out. We’re bringing them back to Venezuela.”
It is unclear why Trump mentioned Venezuela when the migrants in Springfield are from Haiti.
Trump added that he hoped to visit both towns during the campaign.