GREELEY, Colo (AP) — Like many Donald Trump voters, Miranda Niedermeier is not opposed to immigration enforcement. She was heartened by initial moves from the Republican president in his second term that she saw as targeting immigrants who were in the United States illegally and had committed crimes.
But Niedermeier, 35, has steadily become disillusioned with Trump. Never more so than in recent weeks, when federal immigration officers killed two U.S. citizens during Trump's crackdown in Minneapolis.
“In the beginning, they were getting criminals, but now they’re tearing people out of immigration proceedings, looking for the tiniest traffic infraction” to deport someone, said Niedermeier. She said she is horrified because the administration’s approach is not Christian.
“It shouldn’t be life and death,” she said. “We’re not a Third World country. What the hell is going on?”
Trump’s immigration drive in Minnesota and the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti resonate across the farms, oil and gas rigs, and shopping centers of Colorado’s 8th Congressional District. The turmoil in Minnesota has reinforced the political views of some in the U.S. House district while making others reconsider their own.
“He should cool it on immigration,” said Edgar Cautle, a 30-year-old Mexican American oil field worker who is a fan of Trump but increasingly distressed by images of immigration agents detaining children and splitting families apart. “It’s making people not like him.”
If such sentiments hold until the fall, it could imperil House Republicans, risking the GOP’s full control of political power in Washington.
Even a slight shift is significant in the 8th District, where Republican Gabe Evans was elected to Congress in 2024 by a narrow margin. Evans, a former police officer whose mother is Mexican American, has urged the administration to focus on deporting criminals rather than law-abiding immigrants.
“One side wants to fan the flames and equivocate in this space because they want an issue to run on in November,” he said, denying responsibility for negative public perception of ICE.
A survey reflects that about 40% of voters in Evans’ district are Hispanic, and many of them feel offended by Trump's immigration crackdown. Despite the fear it invokes, a segment of voters remains supportive of the immigration enforcement push.
Some citizens expressed concerns over being racially profiled, leading to a heightened sense of fear within the Hispanic community. Individuals such as Joe Hernandez have considered moving out of the country for safety, and many first-time voters are awakened to the necessity of participating in elections.
As the electoral landscape changes, debates over immigration and the policies that govern it remain crucial issues in shaping the future political climate in Colorado and beyond.
