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Hear what some supporters of President Trump think about his immigration policies

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

President Trump won a second term in part because of what he had to say about immigration. Now the country is seeing how the administration is following through, and it turns out the details influence a lot of people's opinions, as we'll hear in a moment. Yesterday, on this program, we heard from people who choose to protest across this country. Today, we hear from people who support the president's approach.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Stefano Forte is president of the New York Young Republican Club. From Queens, he told us that promising mass deportations is how Trump won the election.

STEFANO FORTE: We have had a shock to the American system with this many illegal migrants entering the country, and this many legal migrants, frankly. We need to take a pause, and then, later on down the line, we can decide if we want to open the United States up. But for right now, the United States is full.

MARTIN: In Miami, George Pita (ph) says he's an independent, says he voted for Trump and says he's torn down the middle.

GEORGE PITA: It's rough because I'm Hispanic myself, and I see my people being treated like this. But I'm also very proud of my American culture, and I also understand that every country needs immigration and has borders and policies for that reason. I'm in agreement with having to deport massly because a lot of illegals did come through. I just don't like the way it's being done.

MARTIN: Julie Cantwell is a Republican running for state representative in Rineyville, Kentucky. She said people in her community are a little torn, too.

JULIE CANTWELL: They want to deport the violent criminals. But, you know, a lot of people also feel that as strong Republicans, that we don't want to rip families apart because, you know, we do believe in family values.

INSKEEP: Ben Wallace is an oil and gas executive in Western Pennsylvania. We met him while covering last year's election. He met us at a fracking facility. So we called him back to ask about the news from Los Angeles.

BEN WALLACE: It doesn't bother me at all that the president is using troops, and I think that the troops should be unleashed to put down the insurrection.

INSKEEP: Katherine Khatari (ph), a longtime Republican voter in Brooklyn, says she would welcome the Marines to her city.

KATHERINE KHATARI: I say ooh-rah. Semper fi. Ooh-rah. Leave the National Guard, sit them down on the sidelines and bring the Marine Corps in. My son-in-law has a business in SoHo. We work hard for everything, and you're breaking my window? Hell, no. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.