Cynthia Hawkins and Bill Christopher describe themselves as moderates whose voting choices this year were driven at least in part by immigration concerns.

But this does not pull their votes in the same direction.

Instead, they had common concerns about the large number of new arrivals to the country in recent years and the resulting difficulties. local budgets and servicesThey are divided over inflammatory rhetoric surrounding one of the most divisive issues at play in the November election.

Immigration policy and border security have proven to be important issuesFor both candidates and voters, especially those on the conservative side of the political spectrum. Across the country and in some of Colorado’s hotly contested congressional races, who wins on Nov. 5 could be crucial.

Inside Voter Voices survey In polling conducted in recent months by news organizations in Colorado, including The Denver Post, most self-identified conservatives ranked immigration among their top three voting issues, while few liberals ranked it at the top. But moderates also frequently raised immigration concerns.

Hawkins, a participant who lives in Jefferson County. He said he was not against immigration as a whole, but was against “flooding from the border”. He added that he is concerned about the possibility of increased taxes to support immigrants in metro Denver.

This strengthens his vote for former President Donald Trump, who is also the Republican candidate, in the presidential race.

“There are a lot of illegal immigrants coming into our country,” Hawkins said in an interview. “It costs our communities, hospitals and schools.”

Christopher, who lives in Westminster, is equally concerned about the stress the influx of people is putting on local authorities. As a former city manager of Westminster, he knows firsthand the challenges local governments face in meeting the needs of the community.

But she was also “appalled” by Trump’s portrayal of immigrants in his speeches and on the campaign trail, and said he didn’t need to go back too far in his own family history to find his Irish immigrant roots. He’s voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.

He said the country needs a more streamlined system for processing immigrants that helps new arrivals and prevents underserved services, even if it means turning some people away. He also supports Harris’ plan to create a path to citizenship.

“I feel sorry for people who find themselves in this position,” Christopher said. “Hopefully over time we can figure out a lot of this, but it’s going to be slow, it’s going to be expensive, and it’s going to take away from other things that local government, whether it’s a county or a city, can do.”

Every Republican running for Congress among the candidates who responded Post’s candidate poll He listed immigration or the southern border as the most important issue if elected.

And to begin with, there may not be a wider gap between the leading presidential candidates.

Trump promises mass deportations

Trump has vowed to continue mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. He was holding what would almost certainly belong to Colorado just presidential rally in Aurora earlier this month — not that the state is likely to come into play in the election. Viral video from late summer showing members of a Venezuelan gang He was carrying firearms in the hallway of an apartment building there.

He cited this as an example of the racist claim that an “invasion” was taking place in Colorado.. Room promised to call a centuries-old law Latest II. During World War II, it was used to create Japanese internment camps, including one in Colorado, to “expel savage mobs” in Aurora and elsewhere.

Harris, by contrast, gave less importance to the issue. When it does this, it focuses specifically on border security. He supports a plan to increase the number of border guards and crack down on illegal smuggling.

Instead of mass deportation of undocumented people, campaign website He talks about “an earned path to citizenship.” Much of its frame reflects shopping and shopping a bipartisan border bill It was scuttled by Republicans in Congress earlier this year, partly at Trump’s insistence.

How the two candidates address immigration will have nation-changing consequences, from the size and scope of immigration enforcement to the economic impact of immigrants and the structure of Colorado’s cities, towns and neighborhoods.

There are approximately 47.8 million foreign-born people in the United States, and more than three-quarters of them are here legally. with a new Pew Study report. Approximately 23.4 million are naturalized U.S. citizens, 11.5 million are legal permanent residents, and 2 million are temporary legal residents. The remaining 11 million people are unauthorized immigrants.

About 170,000 residents in Colorado are estimated to be undocumented, according to a separate 2022 Pew report; This equates to approximately 3% of the state’s population. Approximately 340,000 people reported living in mixed-status households where at least one person was undocumented. This number included 90,000 children whose homes included unregistered people.

For Lisa Martinez, a professor of sociology at the University of Denver and co-founder of the Center for Immigration Policy and Research, the scope of trying to remove so many people and destroying so many homes is mind-boggling.

“I don’t think people fully understand what it means to implement a mass deportation policy and what that means for us,” Martinez said in an interview. “Not just immigrant communities, but us too.”

Trump told Time magazine in the spring that he would target deportation 15 million to 20 million people – more than the estimated total number of undocumented immigrants in the country. His advisors explained: New York Times “Large holding facilities to function as staging centers” to hold people awaiting deportation.

Martinez noted that although the projected number of deportations is new and significantly higher than the number of deportations during Trump’s first administration, these are not new ideas. Trump’s first administration audited what was effective travel ban A policy of criminal prosecution is implemented against immigrants who cross the border illegally from many countries with significant Muslim populations. This led to government officials separating parents from their children.

Trump frequently cites examples of violent crimes committed by undocumented immigrants: shootings, assaults and thefts It was allegedly committed by members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Aurora. However, research shows that the immigrant population committing crimes at lower rates more than the general population.

Border conflicts increased during the Biden era

After years of relative stability, the total number of border encounters between authorities and people crossing illegally has skyrocketed under President Joe Biden’s administration, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. statistics. Many were able to seek asylum and stay in the United States temporarily.

The department reported nearly 2 million border encounters in fiscal year 2021; this figure increases to approximately 2.8 million in 2022 and 3.2 million in 2023; The vast majority occurred along the southern border. encountered in the current fiscal year. It has fallen sharply since the peak last December. The figures also include repeated encounters with some individuals.

In 2019, when immigrant encounters peaked during the Trump administration, the department reported more than 1.1 million encounters in total.

Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, whose state covers most of the US-Mexico border, responded to the increase here as follows: putting immigrants on buses and sending them to Democrat-led cities, including Denver. Sudden and unplanned arrivals created stress in the city budget, school district And hospitals as authorities struggle to meet the needs of nearly 43,000 migrants who have arrived since late 2022; Some stayed, some continued to other cities.

Such influence has brought immigration to the forefront of many voters’ minds and raised the profile of the issue for candidates.

“We must aggressively target individuals who are in our communities illegally, who have committed crimes, and these are the individuals we have to deport,” said Gabe Evans, a Republican state legislator running against U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo. during a debate this month.

Seth Masket, a political scientist at the University of Denver, said immigration is “arguably the core issue of the campaign, especially the Trump campaign.”

Anti-immigration policy bans Mexican immigrants fromrapists.” On the contrary, their definitions have become sharper since then. In an interview in October, he mentioned that immigrants brought: “bad genes” to the country.

“He’s going to get into clearly racist territory here,” Masket said. “And it doesn’t seem to hurt him to do that along with other things. “He’s getting some criticism from Democrats, he’s getting some criticism in the media, but his poll numbers are rising.”

Masket compared this to Democrats talking widely about immigration. Harris, an immigrant daughterHe described it as “our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants” his speech He accepted the Democratic nomination – although he noted the need to “reform our broken immigration system.”

While immigration dominates the presidential race, it also impacts local races, including congressional races that will determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives.

Rudy Gonzales, president and CEO of Denver-based nonprofit Servicios de La Raza, said the Latino community has stepped up to speak to voters in both English and Spanish about the upcoming election. Gonzales said the immigration issue is particularly relevant in the 8th Congressional District race between Caraveo and Evans and the 3rd Congressional District race between Democratic candidate Adam Frisch and GOP favorite Jeff Hurd and others.

Gonzales expressed concerns about the possible consequences of Trump winning.

“There is a lot of fear that Trump’s presidency might be sustainable,” Gonzales said. “This doesn’t just apply to the immigrant community; that exists in our (Latino) community.