As his 2024 campaign enters its final weeks, former President Donald Trump has intensified his anti-immigrant rhetoric while also growing his base of support within immigrant communities. Among the mostly white crowd of Trump supporters at Sunday’s rally outside Madison Square Garden, Documented spoke with a handful of immigrant supporters to understand their reasons for supporting the presidential candidate.
Enjoying the carnival-like atmosphere and proudly waving a MAGA flag, Jacob and Reiko Suzuki were in a festive mood. The Suzukis, both immigrants from Japan and self-described devout Christians, drove down from their home in Massachusetts to show their support. When asked about their top issues, Jacob was not shy about his beliefs.
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“Trump saves babies’ lives, and he protects our rights to own firearms,” he said.
As an immigrant himself, Jacob saw no contradiction in supporting Trump despite his anti-immigrant rhetoric.
“Legally is fine, but right now the border is out of control, and that is what [Trump] is talking about,” he said. “He’s not saying the rest of the world are bad people.”
The Suzukis were not the only Trump supporters who didn’t feel threatened by Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric. With lines stretching several city blocks, many people happily waited for hours and endured the sharp wind, eager to see their preferred presidential candidate give a speech intended to energize his base on the campaign’s final leg. The 19,500-seat arena quickly hit capacity, and many had to be turned away.
Despite Trump’s election promise of implementing “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country” and a speaker in the rally calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” Lito, an immigrant from Peru, enthusiastically waved a “Latino for Trump” flag. Lito, 42, who withheld his last name, has lived in New York for six years and said he was proud to support the former president.
“I love Trump, he loves Latinos. I’ve seen so many videos,” he said.
Lito is far from alone. A September NBC News/Telemundo/CNBC poll showed that Trump has been gaining support among Latino men. Disillusioned by the Democratic party, Lito said he believes Democrats “have been lying” about Trump deporting as many immigrants as the Democrats claim he will.
Nearby Lito, Monda Hamitat, 63, was proudly waving her small Albanian flag as she posed for pictures with her fellow MAGA fans.
“I think he’s the greatest president of the U.S.A.,” she said. “I’m waiting for him to come again and make America great again.”
When asked what specific Trump policy she supported, she cited her number one concern as public safety.
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“I’m an immigrant, and I came here 26 years ago with my family from Albania, and I’m so proud to be here because here I found freedom,” she said. “Now America is a bad foundation. A lot of crime. We are afraid to go out in the street.”
Across Eighth Avenue, at the Trump counter-protest, Nadine Seiler’s voice was going hoarse from chanting a slew of anti-Trump slogans.
“At this junction in history, I’m embarrassed to be an American citizen because 45 percent of the pollution is willing to put this demagogue, this dimwit, this fascist, to put him back,” Seiler, 59, said.
As an immigrant from Trinidad, Seiler said she fears Trump’s immigration policy could probably affect her and her community.
“They’re going to come for the Black and brown folks, “she said. “Believe me, I’m on to them because I know personally I’m in the line of fire.”
Nearby Seiler, Yagi, a 53-year-old immigrant from Japan who chose to withhold his last name, was holding a picket sign of Trump’s face that was simply captioned: “Nope.”
As an immigrant, Yagi said Trump’s anti-immigrant language repels him.
“I don’t like Donald Trump, I’m very scared,” he said, before adding, “He’s a racist.”
Part of what makes him so fearful of a second Trump presidency is how divisive he is, Yagi said.
“He doesn’t think immigrants are the same as [non-immigrant Americans],” he said. “He tries to separate the people.”
