When Donald Trump announced last summer that he was running for president, his first line of attack was when he referred to illegal immigrants as "rapists" and "murderers." Since that time, Trump has made immigration reform an essential part of his campaign message, but it appears he's taking it to a new level.

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"They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people," Trump said as he officially kicked off his candidacy for president. Over the last 17 months, Trump has been surrounded by a constant cloud of controversy, while tapping into the fear and anger among his white conservative base.

With just over a week until Election Day, Trump is currently trailing Hillary Clinton on a national level and in key battleground states. According to The Hill on October 31, Trump added a new line to his immigration message during his latest rally.

(Trump's comments start at 25:00 in the above video)

While campaigning in Albuquerque, N.M. on Saturday night, Trump did his best to fan the flames of fear with his supporters. "You could have 650 million people pour in and we'd do nothing about it," Trump said, before stating, "That's what could happen. You triple the size of our country in one week." The Republican nominee was attacking Clinton's alleged immigration proposal, which he refers to as "weak" compared to his "tough" plans.

Despite Trump's claim of "650 million" illegal immigrants entering the country, the current United States population is just under 319 million, while net immigration has gone down in recent years, not increased.

Going further, Trump attempted to tie illegal immigration into potential Islamic terrorist attacks, all while appearing to push for the return of waterboarding.

"These savages are chopping off heads, drowning people. This is medieval times and then we can't do waterboarding?" Trump rhetorically asked. This isn't the first time that the former host of "The Apprentice" has come out in favor of the use of international torture. Earlier in the campaign, Trump promoted the use of torture by citing the behavior of Islamic terrorists, despite waterboarding being illegal on the world stage.

Moving forward

According to the latest Real Clear Politics rolling average, Trump is trailing Clinton by just under five points nationally, while falling behind further in many swing states. After a month of October surprises that have negatively impacted both campaigns, most pollsters are projecting a historic victory by Clinton on election night.
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