How Arizona voters view the divisive issue of immigration

Phoenix, Arizona — Aureliano Dominguez has run his hot dog stand along a busy Phoenix street for 33 years.

A legal immigrant and U.S. citizen, Dominguez agrees the undocumented immigrants who commit crimes should be deported.

“There’s bad apples anywhere in the world,” Dominguez told CBS News. “Get those bad apples out.”

However, he worries that a mass deportation, as former President Donald Trump is promising, could hurt his business and others.

“A lot of people may think, ‘Oh, it’s just a hot dog vendor.’ But in reality, it’s a domino effect. These people, they spend money, they spend the paycheck,” Dominguez said.

How to secure the U.S.-Mexico border — and what to do about immigrants, legal and illegal, once they enter the U.S. — remain top concerns for voters. 

According to a CBS News poll taken in May, 52% of Arizona voters said recent immigrants from Mexico and Latin America had made life in Arizona worse, compared to 35% of voters when asked the same question in July of 2020.     

And how Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris answer those concerns is sharply different.

Trump — who has spread false stories about immigrant-fueled crime and described immigrants in derogatory terms — has promised to use the military to expel 11 million undocumented immigrants.

“Those people have to be taken out and brought back to the country from where they came,” Trump said in a Sept. 27 speech.

A CBS News poll last month found that 53% of voters are in favor of Trump’s plan, with 47% against it.

Harris, who wants greater funding for border security and a legal pathway to citizenship for some undocumented migrants, has denounced Trump’s plan.
 
“How is that going to happen?” Harris asked while speaking at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18. “Massive raids? Massive detention camps? What are they talking about?”

Republican rancher and Trump supporter John Ladd echoed that.

“How are you going to round up 20 million people?” Ladd asked.

But Ladd favors a get-tough approach to immigration. He sees people illegally cross the border every day onto his 16,000-acre ranch.

“This is mine,” Ladd said of his land. “This is my privacy. This is America. Don’t mess with me.”

Still, he believes law-abiding immigrants deserve to stay.

“If they’ve been here and they’re productive, there should be some consideration,” Ladd said.

Dominguez, meanwhile, is still considering his vote. He says he’s heard Democrats promise they’ll solve the immigration issue for years.

“I’m a registered Democrat, but I’m not 100% sure,” Dominguez said. “They promise, and nothing has happened. So what’s the difference?”