SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — With less than a week until Election Day, immigration continues to be a major issue among some American voters as the race for the White House pits U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the party’s nominee Democrat, and former Republican President Donald Trump. intensifies.

In the battleground state of Arizona on Wednesday, two Trump supporters who chose to give only their first names — Mary and Kendra — made that clear in an interview with the
Jamaica Observer that the former president’s stance on illegal immigration was a major factor in their decision to vote for him.

“It was the easiest decision ever made. I voted for him in 2016 and I voted for him in 2020. I like his policies,” said Mary, who said she lives in California, Observer.

“The border needs to be closed… I actually want illegal people who come into my country to go home, because we have laws and rules and you can’t let 20 million people come into your country without They change the rules. fabric of your country,” she added, while emphasizing that she has no problem with legal immigrants.

“We love immigrants. I want everyone to come to my country, because I think it’s the best place on Earth, but it has to be done legally,” Mary said.

She said some Harris supporters don’t like Trump because they view him negatively.

“When you talk to someone who is voting for Kamala, that person will tell you ‘because Trump is bad, because Trump wants to be a dictator from day one,'” she said.

Kendra, an Ohio native, agreed, emphasizing that she would vote on Election Day.

“In Ohio, it’s harder to vote early. They vote in advance, but I don’t have a voting center near me,” she said.

“…My big issue is freedom of speech, cutting taxes and closing borders. I know some illegal immigrants come from the Caribbean, but it’s all paid for by American taxpayers. We’re all struggling, and knowing that we don’t get anything from the government doesn’t make it easy because the people who go down a notch don’t get all the things from the government and the illegal immigrants get more than American citizens. who are homeless,” she added.

Trump was scheduled to make a campaign appearance Wednesday at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz., as he and Harris continue to woo voters in the swing state.

The fact that Arizona is a border state has placed it at the center of the national debate over immigration policy. That, along with its recent general election history, makes it a crucial state in what is expected to be a close election.

This month
American news reported that Arizona’s changing demographics made it one of seven states up for election.

In the 2020 election, President Joe Biden won the state by a slim majority. However, in 2016, Trump won Arizona with 1,252,401 votes to Hillary Clinton’s 1,161,167.

However, Arizona is traditionally a Republican stronghold and, aside from President Bill Clinton’s victory in his 1996 re-election campaign, the state has not supported a Democratic presidential candidate since 1948.

With 11 of the 538 Electoral College votes up for grabs, Arizona is something of a bellwether. Mary and Kendra are therefore pinning their hopes on Trump’s victory in the state. However, Mary believes Trump is being unfairly reported by the US media.

“What I think is difficult for people trying to make up their minds is that our press is so corrupt. They are not presenting the issues properly,” she accused.

“I think 94 percent of the media coverage of Trump is negative, so how can you form an opinion when the press is not balanced?” she asked

She said she used the social media platform X to search for information about the Trump campaign.

“I need to find information there about
X through private accounts and people who can talk. Our press is so corrupt…Trump is not part of Washington, he is a successful businessman. He understands money. He understands these kinds of deep concepts,” she said.

On the flight to Phoenix, Arizona, from Miami on Wednesday, this reporter sat next to a 63-year-old Puerto Rican woman who said she had voted for Harris in early voting in Miami.

“I’m blue,” said the woman, who only gave her name as Denisse.

“I’m from Puerto Rico, but I’ve lived in America for over half my life. I moved to Miami as a student,” she said.

Denisse, who told Observer that she is a scientist and chemist, declined to speak out on the controversy sparked by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe when he joked Sunday that Puerto Rico was “a floating island of garbage” at the start of a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Instead, she talked about her visit to Jamaica and her interactions with Jamaicans.

“I’ve been to Jamaica before. I went there on a cruise. I have friends who work with me in Jamaica. They like anything hot and spicy,” she said.