Donald Trump claims immigrants being allowed in illegally to vote in US election.

Donald Trump has claimed that border officials have been told to allow immigrants into the US illegally so they can vote in the presidential election.

He offered no evidence to support his latest claim that presidential voting may be tainted by fraud, but claimed: "That's a massive story. They are letting people pour into the country so they can go ahead and vote."

He was speaking after a meeting with Art Del Cueto, a vice president for the National Border Patrol Council, who told him officials are being directed to ignore criminal histories of immigrants and speed up citizenship applications.
Union spokesman Shawn Moran, who was with Mr Del Cueto for the meeting in New York, said later in a telephone interview that several issues were conflated during the round-table discussion.

Border Patrol agents have seen an increase in attempts to cross the border from Mexico illegally, Mr Moran said, but he did not say any border agents had been ordered to let those immigrants in so they could vote in November.

The two issues are sometimes linked in a misleading fashion, and the brief exchange between Mr Del Cueto and Mr Trump underscored that.

Neither man offered evidence to back up the idea immigration officials are taking action to allow people who have recently crossed the border to cast ballots on election day. Newly admitted immigrants are not permitted to vote, a right that is reserved for citizens.

The process of achieving citizenship takes years. Applications are handled by US Citizenship and Immigration Services, not the Border Patrol.

There is no evidence that USCIS officials have been directed to quickly approve citizenship applications, although some lawmakers have asked the agency to address such reports.

Mr Trump has repeatedly said he fears the election will be rigged and has made a hardline stance on immigration a centrepiece of his campaign.

His latest provocative claim comes as he and Hillary Clinton prepare for their second debate, a town-hall style confrontation on Sunday night. It is a critical moment for Mr Trump who, after a rough performance in last week's debate, is tasked with showing he can stick to his campaign message and steer clear of comments likely to alienate moderate voters.

Both candidates have been treading lightly on the campaign trail in recent days, as Hurricane Matthew barrelled down on swing state Florida.