As a reporter and an editor, I’ve covered six presidential
campaign stops in Arizona — four of them being Republican candidate Donald Trump or his running mate
Mike Pence — but Wednesday’s Phoenix Trump rally was the first time I’ve
been denied access.

We weren’t denied access once, but twice. The second
time, we were escorted from the building.

Stopped at the gates

Trump came to Phoenix immediately following a morning stop
in Mexico City for a meeting with Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto. Trump’s intention was to give a speech detailing his immigration policy, and our
intent was to cover it.

The Daily Wildcat’s
original request to be credentialed for the event was denied, but after a call to Brian Seitchik, Trump’s Arizona state director,
we felt confident that we’d get access. So we headed to Phoenix.

At the media check-in station, our plea with the campaign
seemed to have prevailed, as all five of our names were on the list.
Alex McIntyre, a Daily Wildcat photographer,
and myself were issued credentials and proceeded through the Secret
Service security screening.

We made our way through the Phoenix Convention
Center and headed toward the press pit at the back of the roughly one-third
full venue, until we were stopped by Kathryn Wellner, a communications coordinator for the Trump campaign. She wanted our credentials.

According to Wellner, we were never supposed to be let in the
building, despite our apparent inclusion on the list of approved media. The only reason she gave was a quick, “Well, you’re not on my list,” and an
explanation that the decision was “out of her hands.”

We handed over our credentials, and were escorted from the
building.

Rebecca Noble, another Daily
Wildcat photographer who had arrived separately, was greeted at the
entrance of the pit with the same response.

Noble caught the exchange on camera:

No reason given to why @dailywildcat credentials were revoked. Five of us came up here today. pic.twitter.com/bzZ6Vev2DP

— Rebecca Noble (@rnoblephoto) September 1, 2016

Among the myriad of local and national media granted access
to the event were the Tucson Sentinel,
Arizona Daily Star, the Tucson Weekly, Cronkite News and the Arizona Republic. The Daily Wildcat,
however, was excluded from the list — the first time we’ve been barred from a
Trump campaign event.  

It does not appear that the Wildcat was singled out by the Trump campaign for the purpose of squelching the media. But for us to get denied, seemingly added back to the list and then tossed out by a separate representative of the campaign shows a lack of caring. We weren’t the Republic, NBC or the Daily Star, and therefore weren’t worth the time or effort.

If a larger media outlet had been inexplicably denied, Wellner and the communications staff on the ground in Phoenix would have given more effort in figuring out why our names were on one list and not the other, rather than simply escorting us out the back door. 

The speech

Noble and myself were able to later re-enter the venue with the general
public, sans press passes, to briefly cover the GOP nominee’s remarks.

After an all-star introduction that included former New York
City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and newly-crowned running mate Mike Pence, Trump
delivered a “detailed policy speech” in which he elaborated on a 10-point plan to “finally
end illegal immigration.”

Here is his plan:

1. ”Build the wall.”

Note: Though he did not discuss with Nieto his plan for
having Mexico pay for the construction of a border wall, he did proclaim, “They
don’t know it yet, but they are going to pay for it.”

2. End
what he referred to as “catch and release,” or the release of a person caught
illegally crossing the border before they are deported.

3. Adopt a “zero tolerance” policy for undocumented immigrants with a
criminal record and urge Congress to pass Kate’s Law, which would block all
undocumented immigrants convicted of illegal reentry from crossing the U.S.
border ever again.

4. Block
funding for sanctuary cities, “punishing” them for sheltering undocumented
immigrants.

5. End
President Obama’s executive orders on deportation that allowed millions of
undocumented immigrants to stay in the country for various reasons, including being the parents of children born in the U.S. and obtaining a high
school diploma.

6. Stop
issuing visas in places where accurate screening cannot occur — i.e. Syria and
Libya.

7. Ensure
that a deported person is taken back by the country to which they were deported. Trump cited data that said “thousands” of people were released in the U.S.
after their respective country had refused them reentry.

8. Complete
and implement a biometric entry-exit tracking system at all ports of entry to
and from the U.S.

9. Ensure
the use of E-Verify in an attempt to block undocumented immigrants access to
government benefits.

10. Reform
current immigration policies to better protect the U.S. and its workers. He
added that after several years when the “threat of illegal immigration is gone,”
the country can then decide what to do with the people who are still here.

Alex McIntyre, Brenna Bailey and Scott Felix contributed to the reporting of this story. 

Follow Sam Gross on Twitter.