How are faith communities responding to the immigration crisis in the states that are likely to decide the 2024 presidential election?
According to numerous sources, immigration has become the single most important issue for voters in the 2024 election. But while changing policies in Texas or California often catch the most headlines, what swing state voters are thinking, saying, and doing about immigration is likely to play a key role in the election's outcome.
In this series, reporter Ken Chitwood talks with communities in different swing states — including migrants, experts, and people of faith — to explore how immigration is a key part of the electorate’s journey.
Cochise County Sheriff's Criminal Interdiction Team deputy Christopher Oletski speaks with a driver who exhibited what he felt were nervous driving behaviors, prompting him to initiate a traffic stop to clear the vehicle for undocumented persons before allowing the driver to proceed, near the U.S.-Mexico border in Tombstone, A.Z., on May 22. REUTERS/Rebecca Noble
“Immigration, whether you live in the south of the state or the far north, is a part of life here,” said Adam Burke, a Lutheran pastor in the Arizona city of Prescott, which is between Phoenix and the northern city of Flagstaff. “Whether you see it or not,” he said, “it impacts Arizonans every day.”
That is why in poll after poll in early 2024 — like those conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, Morning Consult, and the UK-based Redfield and Wilton Strategies — immigration is, along with reproductive rights and the economy, a top issue among Arizona voters.
Entrance signs to Whitewater, Wisconsin. Photo: Birgit Tyrrell via Reuters Connect
Nestled in the heart of the flat, fertile lands of southeastern Wisconsin, Whitewater is a small city of around 15,000 with a college-town feel. When Samuel Schulz, a Wisconsin Synod Lutheran pastor, moved there after graduating from seminary last year, one of the first things he noticed was a large presence of Spanish speakers around town.