US President Donald Trump pledges cash to retirees ahead of midterms

More than a year into President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, a recent poll indicates that rural voters in the United States are divided on the effects of these policies on their communities. The Associated Press-KFF survey, which polled over 2,000 rural voters in August, found that roughly one-third of respondents believe the Trump administration's enforcement of immigration laws has positively impacted their community, while another third perceive it negatively. The remaining third stated that there was no impact.

President Trump had campaigned on a promise of tough immigration enforcement, and the survey underscores the significance of this issue for his rural supporters, who are part of the Make America Great Again movement. However, many rural voters also acknowledge the importance of immigrants to their local economies, with most seeing them as a vital part of industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, and agriculture.

Laura Leigh Taylor, a 37-year-old farmer from Smithville, Georgia, voted for Trump in 2024 but disapproves of the breadth of his immigration crackdown. Although she supports deporting individuals with criminal records, Taylor regrets her vote, citing the deportation of a friend's hardworking father. She now plans to vote for Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in November, citing her concern over the impact of Trump's immigration enforcement on families being uprooted.

Most rural voters emphasize the importance of politicians discussing immigration in the upcoming midterm elections, though this is less of a priority compared to issues such as the cost of living, government program fraud, or healthcare costs. Despite not seeing significant support for Trump's immigration policies, rural voters are less likely to claim that Trump has overstepped in his efforts to restrict legal immigration or deport non-citizen immigrants.

Only about 40% of rural voters believe Trump has "gone too far" in these areas, compared to 55% of all U.S. adults who shared the same sentiment in a September AP-NORC poll.

John Thomas, a 55-year-old resident of Liberty, Kentucky, supports Trump's push for deporting individuals without legal status. Thomas, who has recently been approved for disability benefits, believes that immigration enforcement can help alleviate the burden on the healthcare system. He argues that immigrants often take resources away from Americans in need of healthcare.

However, healthcare policy expert David Grabowski from Harvard Medical School disputes this notion, emphasizing that immigrants often contribute to the system as they work in healthcare and pay taxes.