Trump says his immigration policies will make US stronger

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US President Donald Trump defended his tough stance on immigrants crossing the US border with Mexico on Saturday, praising his administration for a job well done and saying his approach will make the United States stronger.

He traveled to Las Vegas to support Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, a Republican who is facing a stiff challenge to re-election.

Trump has been under fire for a policy that separates children from their parents when they illegally cross the US border with Mexico.

Amid a fierce outcry, Trump reversed himself on Wednesday and signed an executive order to abandon the policy, but the fate of more than 2,300 children already separated from their parents before the order was enacted is unknown.

June 23, 2018: A demonstrator holding a sign confronts pro-Trump supporters during the "Keep Families Together" march outside of the Homestead temporary shelter for unaccompanied migrant children in Homestead, Florida. /VCG Photo

"My people are actually doing a very good job," Trump said in a speech at the Nevada Republican Party state convention a Suncoast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Trump said that with a 3.8 percent jobless rate, the United States needs immigrants for jobs that need to be filled, but he wants them to be legal immigrants.

"We need people to come in, but they have to be people that love this country, can love our country and can really help us to make America great again," he added.

Protests against the separation of illegal immigrant parents from their children continued on Saturday in Florida, California, and Texas. Outside a US Border Patrol processing facility in McAllen, Texas, more than 100 demonstrators briefly blocked a bus carrying immigrants before law enforcement personnel cleared the way.

(Cover: US President Donald Trump speaks with supporters during a roundtable event in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 23, 2018. /VCG Photo)

(With input from Reuters)