'We have laws': Trump supporters in Arizona cheer new guidelines on deportation

PHOENIX — White House directives placing most of the nation's millions of undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation drew praise from Arizona voters who helped elect Donald Trump, in part, because of his promises to act decisively on illegal immigration.

The stricter enforcement procedures were spelled out in Department of Homeland Security memos released Tuesday, and provide guidance to law-enforcement officials on how to implement Trump's Jan. 25 executive orders on immigration. The orders give federal agents wide discretion in determining who to deport.

Most of the more than half-dozen Trump voters interviewed by The Arizona Republic favored the new rules, but others acknowledged they were conflicted about deporting people who are in the country illegally but aren't convicted criminals, as allowed by the orders. These voters said they favor policies that allow such migrants a way to become legal residents.

One Trump voter put the blame for the nation's immigration issues on the employers who for years hired undocumented immigrants and federal officials who turned a blind eye to the practice.

Bruce Luna said he has compassion for the plight of undocumented immigrants.

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He sees legal Mexican workers cross every day into the Yuma area, where he lives, to pick produce, and the children who come into Arizona every day to go to school. He and his family spend about $2,000 to $3,000 a year to help those students, he said. “It’s not their fault.”

At the same time, he added, U.S. citizens and legal residents are struggling to succeed. Why should they be forced to take care of people who break laws and enter the country illegally? It frustrates him when he sees “illegals getting unemployment and food stamps” while he is “struggling to survive."

Luna, a Republican, voted for Trump in part because of his promise to address the 11 million undocumented immigrants living here illegally.

“I didn’t serve in the military to serve everybody else,” Luna said. “I served for the United States and to protect its values and its laws. I do support the effort that Trump’s doing because we should’ve been doing this a long time ago.”

Karri King, a small-business owner who works in the agricultural industry, agreed. She said the U.S. had an opportunity after the 1986 amnesty to secure its borders. Instead, she said, businesses and politicians turned a blind eye to the problem. They hired undocumented workers, taking advantage of an opportunity to employ workers at lower wages.

“And then we allowed people to come here, to bring their children here and build their lives,” said King, the daughter of a police officer. “I have compassion. We allowed this. We gave this roots. While I believe in the law, I really do feel like we, as a country and our government really has so much culpability with this problem."

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King, of Buckeye, said undocumented individuals with criminal records should be deported.  But those without criminal records should be given the opportunity to prove themselves deserving of legal status.

“Why don’t we have a way (for them) to follow the law, but maybe in a different way?” she asked. “Maybe we could adapt.”

But without enforcing immigration laws, Trump voter Bob Glovitz asked, what kind of nation would we be?

His grandparents on his father’s side immigrated to the U.S. through Ellis Island and built a good life for themselves, the Scottsdale retiree said.

“There’s some great people that have immigrated — hugely great people that have changed this country for the best,” he said. “But if we don’t control our borders, we don’t have a country.”

For Alan Gaugert, a northwest Phoenix resident, the immigration orders are a welcome change to how things have been done. The Trump supporter said the president is only enforcing the law.

“If we stay within the law, then everyone should be treated equally, regardless of whether people like that or not,” he said. “What I understand and what I support is following the law, and the law says if you are an undocumented person you’re not supposed to be in the United States and you are authorized to be deported.”

As the daughter of immigrants from Iran, Shadow Asgari agreed. Her parents did it the right way, she said. After arriving from Iran, they navigated the complex immigration system, and did it legally.

"We have laws, they've been on the books forever, and they should be enforced," said Asgari, a Chandler orthodontist. "And I'm saying this as a daughter of first-generation immigrants."

Asgari, who voted for Trump, said she doesn't expect a "mass exodus" of the 11 million immigrants illegally in the U.S. "People are just automatically panicking rather than waiting to see what unfolds," she said.

It also comes down to the rule of law for Joy Staveley, a Flagstaff Republican who owns and operates a Grand Canyon area river-rafting company and RV park and campground. She supports Trump’s efforts to focus on detaining and deporting unauthorized immigrants with criminal histories.

When it comes to the millions of other undocumented immigrants — those without criminal histories — she is conflicted.

“Why is it that we as Americans are made to feel so guilty about something no other country would allow?” she said.