Lorena

Lorena was primarily focused on the economy, saying rising prices and scarce work were hurting families, and she consistently tied politics back to everyday survival. She strongly supported stricter immigration enforcement and believed people who broke the law should face consequences, viewing Biden’s approach as too permissive and out of step with her values. While she ultimately did not vote in 2024, she suggested she would have supported Trump because she believed he would strengthen the economy and restore order, even as she acknowledged concerns about his racism. At the same time, Lorena left open the possibility of returning to Democrats if they put forward a leader with stronger values and clearer priorities for working families. 

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Our initial interviews were conducted in participant’s homes, and lasted approximately 3 hours. The follow up interviews were conducted remotely via Zoom, and lasted around 30 minutes. The following are shortened clips from these interviews.

Unlike in her first interview, Lorena described a climate of fear in her community, with police and ICE activity creating panic for ordinary people and reshaping how she experienced immigration enforcement in real time. While she had previously supported stricter enforcement, she expressed opposition to workplace raids and worried that even naturalized citizens could lose protections. This marked a significant shift: though she once viewed Trump as the best option, the deportations and enforcement actions left her feeling betrayed and anxious about where the line was being drawn. More disillusioned with politics overall, she expressed deep distrust toward leaders from both parties and growing hesitation about voting in the future, while remaining deeply worried about her children’s future.

In Lorena’s community, deportations had become even more visible and chaotic, affecting people she knew and spreading fear across worksites, reinforcing her belief that enforcement was escalating beyond what she considered reasonable. Even as she maintained support for law enforcement and believed some “clean-up” was necessary, she felt the approach was going too far and emphasized the continued need for faster legal pathways for law-abiding immigrants. She also returned to rising prices, noting that conditions had not improved since Trump took office, contributing to her broader sense that the country was becoming more unstable.

Lorena expressed frustration and concern about political decisions, especially cuts to social benefits like EBT and healthcare, which she felt were directly harming vulnerable groups including people with disabilities and low-income families. While she characterized herself as not fully understanding politics, she did feel confident about her values and ability to identify policies that were unfair and destabilizing for working families. She questioned why the United States seemed to prioritize foreign involvement over supporting its own residents, tying those choices back to the everyday economic pressures she had described throughout the interviews. Overall, her concerns reflected consistent focus on day-to-day hardship, and a growing belief that political decisions were actively making life harder rather than improving it.

Lorena brought up the newly elected NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani and her thoughts on Democratic Socialists and their proposals, which she considered potentially helpful for society as a whole. When asked about other Democratic wins in 2025, she attributed the results to people being scared and frustrated with Republicans; she viewed the shift less as enthusiasm for Democrats and more as backlash against GOP leadership. She also expressed personal frustration with what she described as Trump’s corruption, namely related to the government shutdown, which she saw as putting critical programs at risk. While Lorena remained distrustful of both parties, her criticism has sharpened toward Republicans in particular, reflecting an evolving sense of which side was creating more immediate harm.

Lorena described worsening feelings about the state of the world and the economy, explaining that she had adapted to rising costs even as she felt life was becoming more unstable. Once again, she emphasized that immigration raids in her community had escalated over time, reinforcing her fear that enforcement was spinning out of control. When it came to the news about Trump bombing Venezuelan boats, she doubted that the attack truly targeted drug dealers, reflecting her growing skepticism toward the administration’s justification for the attacks. She also opposed the end of ACA subsidies, seeing it as another decision that would hurt working families. By the end of the interview, Lorena expressed deep hesitation about voting in 2026, grounded in persistent distrust of both parties and in the sense that the political system had become more chaotic, more punitive, and less responsive to people like her.