'It's frustrating': Americans on the border tired of political games on immigration

Photo: Olivier Touron Agence France-Presse A Donald Trump campaign sign is seen on a street in Douglas, Arizona, on October 16, 2024.

Romain Fonsegrives – Agence France-Presse In Douglas

Published at 0:00

• United States

In her store a stone's throw from the wall erected between the United States and Mexico, Ida Pedrego sighs as she watches the waltz of White House candidates come to talk about immigration in Arizona.

Last month, this American woman saw Kamala Harris parade through her town of Douglas. A few photos along the huge fence, a speech, and the Democrat was gone. Same thing in August for Donald Trump, about an hour away.

“The problem is that they come and stay here for a few minutes,” laments the shopkeeper. “What can you see, what can you learn in such a short time?”

Among the key states capable of swinging the presidential election in November, Arizona (southwest) is the only one to share a border with Mexico. It therefore serves as a showcase for heated debates on immigration.

Enough to tire Ms. Pedrego, who is horrified by Donald Trump’s violent rhetoric, which hammers home his apocalyptic vision of an “occupied” America, where an invasion of migrants would have increased crime — something that no official statistics show.

Douglas, where law enforcement is very visible, “is one of the safest places […] There’s rarely a shooting,” says this 72-year-old Democratic voter, who does not lock her car.

“We don’t have the crime that people seem to associate with life on the border,” confirms the Republican mayor, Donald Huish.

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“Balloon of foot »

This “old school” conservative denounces both Donald Trump’s sensationalism and certain Democratic speeches, which he considers lax — before becoming vice president, Kamala Harris wanted to decriminalize illegal crossings.

“People don’t understand the border,” says the sixty-year-old, a native of Douglas, with a sigh.

In this dusty town of 16,000, Spanish is spoken alongside English, and many have family in Agua Prieta, on the other side of the wall. With its 100,000 residents and its factories, its economic dynamism is a big benefit to Douglas.

The record influx of migrants under Joe Biden had long spared the area, but when it finally caught up with it last winter, the city organized itself with good grace.

The migrants were housed in a church, or bused daily to elsewhere in the United States. Between September and March, Douglas saw 8,400 people pass through.

Their care has depleted the border police force, usually devoted to the fight against drug trafficking, which has been discreetly rooted for decades.

Donald Huish would like more resources, as promised in the bipartisan immigration bill that Congress crafted in the spring. But the bill has since been shelved. “It’s frustrating,” the mayor says.

Immigration is being used “like a political football” that the parties are kicking back and forth, he says. “I wish it would stop and we’d bring out the video referee, and see what’s best.” »

Deadly consequences

During her visit to Douglas, the first to the border in three years, Kamala Harris accused Donald Trump of having killed this law to better serve his campaign.

She promised to resurrect the text in the event of victory and to maintain the decree taken by Joe Biden this summer, which virtually closed the border.

But like many Americans, Timm Klump has no confidence in the vice president. On his ranch that borders the border wall reinforced by Donald Trump, some gates designed to drain water in case of heavy rain have been open “since 2021.”

“To me, it’s a message to say: ‘Hey, the previous administration built a wall, we’re not maintaining it. We just want to destroy what they did, come in as much as you want,’” believes this Republican rancher.

The thirty-year-old regularly comes across thirsty migrants and sometimes corpses. Desert victims honored every Tuesday in Douglas, during a vigil where dozens of white crosses are placed on the sidewalks.

At the head of the Frontera de Cristo association, Mark Adams attends it assiduously.

In the 25 years he’s been helping migrants in Douglas, the Presbyterian has watched the wall grow taller under each president. But Congress has consistently failed to reform the immigration system to increase both border security and legal pathways to the United States.

“Instead of addressing the deeper realities at the root of migration, … we’re pursuing a policy that sows death,” he says with a sigh.