WASHINGTON — In the remote Nevada desert, the Baker Ranch could not survive without immigrant workers who come from Mexico every year.
About 300 miles south In Las Vegas — increasingly a vacation playground for Americans of all political and socio-economic backgrounds — immigrants are just as important, keeping the 24-hour economy running all day, every day.
Immigration has become a source of fear and frustration for voters these presidential elections – with possible outcomes that could see the United States beat by two dramatically different paths. But immigrants who have been in the country for decades say a nuanced issue has been drowned out by seemingly simpler solutions championed by both parties.
Nowhere are the complicated economic and social realities behind the red-hot political divide on immigration more apparent than in Nevada, a state that could be inching closer to the election.
Here are highlights from the AP report:
The influx of illegal border crossings takes a long time stretched city and state resources, even in Democratic strongholds across the country, even as encounters between immigrants and law enforcement have plummeted in recent months. And yet, in a way, immigration has fueled job growth strengthen the economy and improving the fiscal health of the federal government.
Former President Donald Trump favors tough proposals that would force mass deportations, while Vice President Kamala Harris calls for pathways to citizenship for millions of people living illegally in the country. But Harris is also calling for more funding for border security enforcement and strengthening existing actions by the Biden administration that have tightened rules for immigrants to seek asylum in the U.S. when they arrive at the southern border.
“I think our focus is squarely on the border and not on the people who are already here and have been here for many, many years,” said Erika Marquez, an immigrant rights organizer for the advocacy group Make the Road Nevada.
Both parties have called for expanding guest worker programs in agriculture.
The Trump administration deemed guest farm workers essential during the coronavirus pandemic, and participation in the program increased during his time in office. But he also proposed a rule that would freeze farm workers’ salaries for two years, relaxing workers’ housing requirements and limiting the transportation costs for which they could be reimbursed.
The Biden administration has scrapped those rules. Since then, more than 310,000 H-2A visas have been issued were issued in fiscal year 2023, compared to about 213,000 in fiscal year 2020, the last full under Trump. But the Biden White House also imposed a series of new rules intended to better protect workers, which has at times frustrated business owners like the Bakers.
“It’s a hot potato and each side is lobbing towards each other. And frankly, both are to blame,” Janille Baker, who manages the ranch’s financial books, said of immigration. “There comes a time when it has to be taken care of. You can’t just keep spreading fear and scaring people and then remain critical of the people who do or don’t want to do any work.”
In Nevada, almost 19% of residents were born abroad And 9% of the total workforce has no US legal status. If the state were to lose all its workers in the country illegally, figures from the Ministry of Labor suggest that direct job losses would be about as large as those of the 2008 financial crisis, which brought tourism to a standstill, a wave of bankruptcies on the housing market and the state about 9.3% of its jobs during the subsequent Great recession.
“In our wonderful 24-hour economy, we know that these hotels and casinos could not, should not and should not open every day without immigrants,” said Peter Guzman, president and CEO of the Nevada Latin Chamber of Commerce. .
And even rounding up people in the country illegally may not count those with Temporary Protected Status, or the guest workers on the Baker ranch, all of whom are allowed to stay in the US.
Haydee Zetino, who cleans lavish hotel suites at Harrah’s Casino on the famed Las Vegas strip, is an immigrant from El Salvador with only temporary protected status in the US. The 62-year-old watched as Trump tried to strip away many such protections in his first appearance. term and worries it could happen again if he wins — even though she can’t vote herself in as a noncitizen.
“These people have no conscience whatsoever,” she said of those who support mass deportations. “They believe they can uplift the country and move the economy forward, but they don’t think about those at the bottom.”
The Pew Research Center estimates that 11 million people in the country are living in the US illegally. Large states like California, Texas, and Florida have larger numbers of people who could potentially have even more influence on the workforce and communities. But these states are all clearly red or blue in the presidential races — and are unlikely to sway the election the way Nevada might.
Despite having only six electoral votes, Nevada could choose Trump or Harris. Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, includes about 75% of the state’s population and includes a significant number of workers in the hospitality industry represented by the powerful Culinary Union of Nevada, which has endorsed Harris.
But Trump managed to get few voters there in 2020and did well in much of the rest of the state, which is rural and more conservative. Washoe County, home to Reno, is a perpetual toss-up. Voters can also choose “None” of the presidential candidates, adding to the famously fickle nature of Nevada’s electorate.
It’s all left some voters fearful of the outcome.
“There’s a lot of fear,” said Nancy Valenzuela, a 48-year-old maid who works at the Strat Casino. “There are people who have no papers. They say, ‘They want to throw us all out.’