Live updates: What you need to know about Donald Trump’s Everett rally

Donald Trump is holding a rally Tuesday at Everett's Xfinity Arena. Democrats are having a counter-rally at Clark Park, then marching to the arena.

What you need to know:

    A rally at Everett’s Xfinity Arena begins at 7 p.m. Doors open at 4. Trump is also in town to gather cash at a fundraiser before the rally.
    Free tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis through the Washington State Republican Party’s website. People are already lining up to get in.
    An anti-Trump protest led by Everett’s mayor also is planned.
    Here’s how traffic could be impacted.

Immigration is a top issue for these Trump supporters.

Kim Walker, a 30-year-old from Redmond who makes figure-skating dresses for a living, said she supports Donald Trump because Trump has promised to “get a handle on immigration” by building a wall along the border with Mexico.

Walker said she doesn’t believe that Trump is racist or sexist, despite his many inflammatory statements. The real-estate tycoon has hired people of all races and religions, she said.

“I like what he’s saying and how he says it, how he rubs people the wrong way,” Walker said. “People need to get a thicker skin.”

Alex Bolt, a 25-year-old from Everett who runs a cleaning company, sees things differently. He walked past the line for the rally blasting the rap song “F*** Donald Trump” from his cell phone and a portable speaker.

Bolt said Trump’s supporters aren’t friendly towards people of color, like himself. He said seeing so many Trump supporters in his city makes him feel “upset, hurt and emotional.”

“Someone looked at me and said, “This guy doesn’t like white people.’ My mom is white,” he said. “Every person I’ve spoken to who supports Trump has a problem with people of color.”

Near the front of the line, Helen Miller of Bremerton, said she’s an immigrant herself. Miller declined to share her age but said she made her way to the U.S. long ago “through the front door,” drawing a distinction between herself and undocumented immigrants.

Miller said the country has changed too much in recent years. Rather than declare that “Black Lives Matter,” she said “Black Robes Matter,” explaining that she worries about Hillary Clinton appointing left-wing justices to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Update, 2:15 p.m.

Trump inspires this 62-year-old Granite falls man to finally register to vote.

    Dave & Diane Jenkins, of Granite Falls, await @realDonaldTrump. Dave registered to vote this yr for Trump #TrumpWA pic.twitter.com/6bktsbKvYA

    — Jim Brunner (@Jim_Brunner) August 30, 2016

Dave Jenkins, a maintenance supervisor from Granite Falls, says he registered to vote for the first time this year at the age of 62 because of Trump.

Jenkins said Trump would build up the military so the world fears America again. “Now they laugh at us,” he said.

Diane Jenkins, his wife, said she trusts Trump to get control of illegal immigration. “He is the man who has the cajones to do the job,” she said.

But Diane Jenkins said she didn’t agree with all of Trump’s immigration rhetoric or proposals, such as his “deportation force.”

“They’re families,” she said of the millions of undocumented workers in the U.S. “You can’t just take people and throw them out.”

She said immigrants and their families should have a path to legal status — even though Trump attacked his GOP rivals for such so-called amnesty plans during the primaries.



Update, 1:35 p.m. Folks explain why Trump is their candidate. Jacob Gregg, 42, Anacortes, says Trump not perfect but anyone better than Hillary https://t.co/IxB0cuWdcF #TrumpWA pic.twitter.com/deE87hOnne — Daniel Beekman (@DBeekman) August 30, 2016 The line to get into the Trump rally continues to grow. Line for @realDonaldTrump rally in Everett stretches around block #waelex #TrumpInEverett pic.twitter.com/1nOAq2GwDz — Jim Brunner (@Jim_Brunner) August 30, 2016 Update, 10:33 a.m. What’s it like to support Donald Trump in Washington state? Ask Ryan Leenders, 30, a member of the International Association of Machinists, who grew up a Democrat in a single-parent household. By age 12 he had set up a nice neighborhood business mowing and edging lawns for $20 a pop. He voted for Obama eight years ago. Now he’s an ardent Trump supporter. “Regardless of the picture they’re painting of him,” says Leenders about Trump, in an interview earlier this year, “he’d be a labor-first president.” Trump Country: Read the April profile of two Everett men who say Trump’s their guy.

Donald Trump supporters are already lining up for the rally in Everett. The arena seats 10,000 people.

Donald Trump is coming to Washington today for the second time during his campaign. The Republican presidential nominee is holding a rally in Everett before flying to Phoenix to give a speech Wednesday about immigration. Trump was last here in May, holding rallies in Spokane and Lynden, Whatcom County. Where there is a Trump rally, there usually is a counter rally. Everett’s mayor Ray Stephanson and other elected officials and labor and community leaders are leading the “No Hate in Our State” rally. The rally is at 4 p.m. in Clark Park, and will move to Xfinity Arena at 7 p.m., where demonstrators will protest outside where Trump is to speak. Traffic in the region could be snarled by Trump’s motorcade. It’ll be escorted by the Secret Service, which doesn’t reveal travel plans.