Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) responded on Sunday to President Donald Trump's recent comments about illegal immigration, describing them as "racist," "dog whistling," and designed to instill fear in his constituents by mentioning Latinos.

MSNBC's "AM Joy" played a clip of Trump decrying a "surge" in illegal immigration, saying despite voters' concerns, the federal government did not enforce immigration laws.

"Year after year, you pleaded for Washington to enforce our laws, as illegal immigration surged, refugees flooded in, and lax vetting threatened your family's safety and security," Trump said at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

"That is absolutely racist. That's dog whistling," Waters told host Joy Reid, before arguing that Trump used Latinos to "create fear in his constituency."

Waters further described Trump's comments as "absolutely divisive" and said "no leader, no president should be saying and doing the kinds of things he's doing."