SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — 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 between US Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic party candidate, and Republican former President Donald Trump intensifies.

On Wednesday, in battleground state Arizona, two Trump female supporters, who opted to give only their first names — Mary and Kendra — made 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. I voted for him in 2016 and I voted for him in 2020. I like his policies,” Mary, who said she lives in California, told the Observer.

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

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

She claimed that some of Harris’s supporters dislike Trump because they view him the wrong way.

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

Kendra, who is from Ohio, agreed, pointing out that she will cast her ballot on election day.

“In Ohio, it is harder to vote early. They have early voting, but I don’t have one [of the voting centres] close to me,” she said.

“…My big issue is freedom of speech, less taxes, and closing the border. I know some of the illegal people are from the Caribbean, but this is all paid for by the American taxpayers. We are all struggling, and to know that we qualify for nothing from the Government, it doesn’t make it easy because the people who go down a notch don’t get all the Government things and the illegal immigrants get more than the American citizens who are homeless,” she added.

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

The fact that Arizona is a border state has placed it at the centre of national discussion around immigration policy. That, as well as its recent general election history make it a crucial state in what has been predicted will be a tight election.

This month US News reported that the changing demographics in Arizona has made it one of seven toss-up” states for the election.

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

Traditionally, though, Arizona has been a Republican stronghold, and outside of President Bill Clinton’s victory in his 1996 re-election campaign, the state hadn’t supported a presidential Democratic candidate since 1948.

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

“The difficult thing I think for people when they try to make up their mind is that our press is so corrupt. They do not present the issues correctly,” she charged.

“I think 94 per cent of the coverage of Trump is negative, so how does anyone form an opinion when the press isn’t balanced?” she asked

She said she uses social media platform X to search for information on Trump’s campaign.

“I have to find information there on X through private accounts and people being able to speak. Our press is so corrupt…Trump isn’t a part of Washington, he is a successful businessman. He understands money. He understands those kinds of deep concepts,” she said.

On the flight to Phoenix, Arizona from Miami on Wednesday, this reporter was seated beside a 63-year-old Puerto Rican who said she had cast her ballot for Harris in early voting in Miami.

“I am blue,”declared the woman, who gave her name only as Denisse.

“I am from Puerto Rico, but I have been living in America now for more than half my life. I moved to Miami as a student,” she said.

Denisse, who told the Observer that she is a scientist and chemist, declined to speak on the controversy ignited by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe when he joked on 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 spoke about visiting Jamaica and interacting with Jamaicans.

“I have been to Jamaica before. I went there on a cruise. I have some friends who work with me from Jamaica. They like everything hot and spicy,” she said.