Trump Meets With Families in Beverly Hills, Slams U.S. Immigration Policy

(FOX 11 / CNS) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will meet today in Los Angeles with the father of a high school football standout
murdered by a gang member who was in the country without legal permission.

Donald Trump met privately in Beverly Hills today with families of people who were killed by assailants in the country illegally and repeated his condemnation of U.S. immigration policies, insisting that other countries send criminals to the United States, which gladly accepts
them. "So you have the illegals come in and the illegals kill their children, and we better get smart in the United States," Trump said. "So we're housing people from all over the world that other countries don't want.

They're sending criminals to us and we're putting those criminals in jail, often-times after they've killed somebody or hurt somebody. "And whether it's Mexico or other countries, they look at it very differently and very intelligently," he said. "Why should we pay for somebody in jail for 25, 30 or 40 years when the United States, with very, very stupid leaders and representatives, will take care of the situation?"

Trump said the parents he met with told him that "whenever somebody hears that it was an illegal that was involved with the death of their children, it becomes politically incorrect for a politician to help them.

That's how messed up our nation is." The Republican presidential hopeful has been under fire since announcing his bid for the White House, when he said, "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with (them). They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

Univision responded by cutting business ties with Trump, and NBC and Macy's later followed suit. The PGA announced this week it was moving its Grand Slam of Golf event from the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Trump said today he has brought the issue of immigration to the forefront of political discussion, but he stressed that "everybody knows that I have great relationships with Mexican people."

"I have many, many people who work for me who are Mexican," he said. "They're phenomenal people. I love them. They're enormously talented.
"... I have great respect for the country of Mexico," he said. "The problem is the country of Mexico has leaders that are far smarter than our leaders, far more cunning than our leaders. Their negotiators are much better than our negotiators. And they're sending people to our country that we don't want but we take, and they don't want. And you know who they're sending."

Among the parents Trump met with in Beverly Hills was Jamiel Shaw, whose high school football standout son -- Jamiel Shaw II -- was killed by a gang
member in the country without legal permission.

"We must protect American citizens," Shaw told reporters. "How are you gonna allow American citizens to die in the streets and turn a blind eye because you (want to put) your agenda across?"

Jamiel Shaw II was a Los Angeles High School football standout who was shot and killed in 2008 near his Arlington Heights home by a gang member who prosecutors said mistakenly perceived him as a gang rival because he was carrying a red Spider-Man backpack.

Pedro Espinoza, convicted of first-degree murder in 2012 and sentenced to death, was living in the United States without legal permission at the time
of the killing. He had been freed from jail two days before the shooting without immigration authorities placing a hold on him.

Trump said Shaw was "shot from nowhere by an illegal who shouldn't have been in the country, and nobody wants to talk about it. ... The system is
really screwed up."

Trump will speak tonight to a group of Hollywood conservatives at the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel in Brentwood. Trump told syndicated talk show host Dana Loesch he was invited by Oscar-winning actor-director Clint Eastwood to speak in California, but he did not provide more specifics.

Multiple news outlets reported that he would be speaking to the Friends of Abe, a group of conservatives who work in the entertainment industry.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles Action Fund organized a rally outside the hotel, and activists began gathering around 4 p.m.
Trump scoffed at the planned rally. "I heard there were going to be big protests outside," he said. "... There's hardly anybody."

Trump told syndicated talk show host Dana Loesch he would meet with Jamiel Shaw -- the father of Jamiel Shaw II -- "and pay my respects to him."
A campaign aide confirmed the meeting to City News Service. The elder Shaw praised Trump in interviews this week on the Fox News Channel and with Loesch for his criticism of illegal immigration.

Shaw told Loesch that Trump's criticism of illegal immigration is "resonating in the black community because we see all the carnage that's
happened and all the memorials. We see all the jobs that are gone. We see the whole community changing."

Jamiel Shaw II was a Los Angeles High School football standout who was shot and killed in 2008 near his Arlington Heights home by a gang member who
prosecutors said mistakenly perceived him as a gang rival because he was carrying a red Spider-Man backpack.

Pedro Espinoza, convicted of first-degree murder in 2012 and sentenced to death, was living in the United States without legal permission at the time
of the killing. He had been freed from jail two days before the shooting without immigration authorities placing a hold on him.

Trump also told Loesch he was asked to make a speech in California by the Oscar-winning actor-director Clint Eastwood, but did not provide more
specifics.

The entertainment trade publication The Hollywood Reporter and the entertainment news website Deadline Hollywood have reported Trump is to speak
tonight to the Friends of Abe, a group of conservatives who work in the entertainment industry.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles Action Fund plans a rally, news conference and protest outside the Luxe Sunset Boulevard
Hotel in Brentwood, the reported site of the speech.

Trump has been under criticism from various groups for comments he made last month while announcing his bid for the presidency. He said in relation to
immigrants, "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best.

They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with (them). They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're
rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

Univision responded by cutting business ties with Trump, and NBC and Macy's later followed suit. The PGA announced this week it was moving its Grand
Slam of Golf event from the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes.