[Read our latest story on Trump and Beto’s rallies in El Paso.]

Still, the president shouldn’t have a problem filling the venue. Some of his supporters in the city remain eager to hear what Mr. Trump has to say.

“I’d like to see a wall go up along the entire border,” said Joshua Ascencio, 21, a cavalry scout in the United States Army who has plans to become an agent with the Border Patrol when he leaves the military. Mr. Ascencio said he was looking forward to Mr. Trump’s rally.

“I’m a supporter of the president and I think it’s important to be there for him,” said Mr. Ascencio. “I want to hear him on border security.”

Still, for many others in this city of immigrants the mere idea of Mr. Trump coming to El Paso to promote his administration’s crackdown on immigration raises hackles.

“The president of the United States is, disgracefully, nothing more than a racist,” said Mayra Cabral, 37, an immigrant who grew up across the border in Ciudad Juárez and now cleans tables at a restaurant in El Paso, where she has lived for the last 19 years after marrying an American citizen.

Ms. Cabral laughed out loud when asked about Mr. Trump’s claims that Hispanic immigrants bring crime to the United States. She said that El Paso is normally so calm that it’s “boring here sometimes.” Ms. Cabral added that she and her family were not getting waylaid by talk of the president’s visit; on Saturday night, they hosted a quinceañera for her 15-year-old daughter attended by about 300 people.