Trump visits the U.S.-Mexican border

LOREDO, Texas (WLS) -- Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, donning a "Make American Great Again" cap, visited Loredo, Texas near the U.S.-Mexican border on Thursday to stump his position against illegal immigration.

"I'm the one who brought up the problem of illegal immigration," said Trump, who was greeted by both protesters and supporters.

The billionaire business mogul's controversial comments about Mexican immigrants have stirred up the campaign in recent weeks. However, Trump said his trip to the border town, where the population is more than 90 percent Hispanic comes as support growing for his position on immigration.

"Look at the crowds outside, we have big crowds and they're all screaming in favor of Trump," he said. "Because they want the problem fixed."

In the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, about half of potential GOP voters oppose a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants. Thirty-four percent of this group support Trump.

"I took a lot of heat in the first week, but the second week everybody realized I was right," Trump said.

Jeh Johnson, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary, didn't have any advice

for Trump but said: "The undocumented population in this country has stopped growing."

Trump said: "I employ thousands and thousands of Hispanics. I love the people, the Latinos. I love the people. They're great, they're workers. They're fantastic people. They want legal immigration.

Trump was scheduled to meet with the local border control union but the meeting was canceled after national union leaders got involved.