More than 22 million people live in a U.S. household where at least one person is in the country without permission, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of 2022 Census data. That represents about 5 percent of households in the U.S. and 5.5 percent of households in Arizona, a battleground state where the Latino vote could be important.

If Donald Trump is elected and follows through on his campaign promise to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history, it would not only disrupt the lives of the 11 million people living in the United States without permission, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It could devastate the families of US citizens.

The issue of immigration has been a cornerstone of Trump’s platform since he vowed to “build a great wall” when announcing his first Republican presidential campaign in 2015. Even though polls show the economy is voters’ top concern, Trump remains focused on the issue, criticizing the Biden administration’s treatment of the southern border as an existential threat to American society as Election Day approaches.

Trump’s plans to crack down have encouraged some mixed-status families to speak out. They argue that America’s success depends on the contributions of immigrants and that people who do this work deserve a path to legal residence or citizenship.

Others choose to remain silent, hoping to escape attention.

And there are those who support Trump, even though they themselves could become targets of deportation.

The political divide on immigration runs deep: 88 percent of Trump supporters support mass deportation, according to a recent Pew poll; compared to 27 percent of voters who support Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.

When Trump visited the Arizona-Mexico border in August, he was asked about the impact of so many deportations on mixed-status families.

Trump responded to NBC News: “There will be action, but we have to take the criminals out.” He did not say what the provisions might include, and his campaign did not share further information when The Associated Press asked for details.

Heide Castañeda, an anthropology professor at the University of South Florida, said living in a mixed-status family is inherently unstable as immigration policies and political discourse create a ripple effect on U.S. citizens and legal residents.

“For most Americans, it is not customary to go about your daily life thinking that someone in your family has been kidnapped,” said Castañeda, author of “The Boundaries of Belonging: Struggle and Solidarity in Mixed-Status Immigrant Families.” “But of course mixed-status families have that in mind.”

Politicians “think they are targeting a specific group, but these groups live in families, communities, households and neighbourhoods.”

According to Pew, nearly one in 10 households in Nevada, California, New Jersey and Texas consists of people living in the U.S. without legal permission. Many have lived in the country for decades and have U.S. citizens affiliated with them.

Michael Kagan, director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said recent arrivals are not representative of the population in Nevada.

“The vast majority have been here for more than 10 years,” Kagan said, warning that their US citizen relatives could be accidentally swept away.

Erika Andriola, 37, a longtime immigrant advocate in Arizona, witnessed her mother and brother being detained by immigration officials in 2013. He ran a successful campaign that led to their release, but now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and separation anxiety. that day.

“It was like constant nightmares. I would wake up crying,” Andriola said. He and his brother are now legal residents, but their 66-year-old mother has been challenging his deportation in court since 2017.

It’s an experience Andriola wouldn’t wish on anyone, and she says its emotional and economic effects can impact entire communities.

Betzaida Robinson’s brother was deported to Mexico several years ago, even though he had never lived there. She was an integral member of the family in Phoenix, helping pay the bills and raise their two children.

Robinson said Trump and his supporters shouldn’t think about what it’s like to have someone they love taken away from them.

“So what would you do and how would you feel if you were in that position?” he said.

Castañeda, the university professor, said there are still people living in the country illegally and supporting Trump. Even Andriola says she has family members who do this.

“They don’t think about what could happen to people like my mother, but they think about their own lives and what’s best for them,” Andriola said.

Victoria Castro-Corral is a self-described optimist from a mixed-status family in Phoenix who advises students at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. He said he believes a mass deportation plan will never happen and credits his Mexican parents, who crossed the border illegally decades ago, with teaching him how to stay positive.

“We are here to stay,” he said.