Noorani: Shifting Suburban Attitudes on Immigration May Boost Biden’s Election Odds

Immigration authority Ali Noorani called in to Boston Public Radio on Thursday, where he reflected on shifting political attitudes in Arizona’s densely populated and largely suburban Maricopa County. The conversation followed a recent Bloomberg article, titled "If Maricopa County Sours on Trump, So Will Suburbs Everywhere."

"This county was very much the locus of anti-immigrant legislation in Arizona that very quickly moved across the country,” he explained, citing examples like the state’s controversial 2010 “Show Me Your Papers” provision, which was drafted by a Senator situated in the county, and the extreme anti-immigrant politics of Joe Arpaio, who served as county sheriff from 1993 to 2017.  

"But now, as Bloomberg points out, it’s this change in demographics, the changing economics of Maricopa County, that’s changing the county’s perspective and approach on immigration,” he said, adding that some faith-based voters "just don’t like the way that Donald Trump – and frankly, the Republican Party – is approaching immigration."

During their conversation, Noorani also touched on how a slowed-down naturalization process for immigrants will limit votership in November, and detainees at a Louisiana ICE detention center on hunger strike in protest of inhumane treatment. 

Ali Noorani is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Immigration Forum. His latest book is "There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration."