Republican voters in border states might not approve of separating families at the border, but they're highly in favor of a president who's cracking down on illegal immigration, The New York Times reports.
In Texas:
"You don’t ever want to be separating families, but at least the president focused attention on all the people crossing the border illegally," Republican Helen Delavan told the Times.
In Arizona:
"Do I like seeing families pulled apart? Absolutely not," Ryan Farnsworth told the Times. "But it is no different than if I were to go commit a crime, I went to jail, I’d lose my children, too; they’d be stripped from me."
In Florida:
“It hurts my heart to see it, but the culpable ones are the parents who subject their children to crossing the border, or who send them by themselves," Julio Martinez told the Times.
The sentiments are similar to other ardent supporters of President Donald Trump in other parts of the country, too.
It all matters ahead of November's midterms. Crucial races up and down the ballot in Florida and Arizona, e.g., will hinge on how much Republican voters are energized by "zero tolerance" vs. Democratic voters who already are amped up against Trump's platform of restricting legal immigration.
And the president's tough language against migrants — and, by extension, the Hispanic community - will make it challenging for Republican congressional incumbents and candidates to toe the line on the hot-button issue.
"Whenever we’re not able to talk about how the economy is doing well, how unemployment is low, and instead we’re talking about taking babies from their mothers — that’s not an environment that’s going to be helpful," Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, told the Times.
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