As a Democrat since beginning to vote many years ago I finally took the leap and registered as independent. After teaching English to adult immigrants, legal and illegal, for 13 yrs. I finally retired at the first possible moment, primarily because I couldn't stomach the pandering that was going on in our school, the surrounding community, the county, state, and country. Rather than a philosophical issue it was a serious issue that constantly threatened our jobs as teachers (poor attendance leads to consolidation of classes and teachers potentially losing their jobs). I was fed up with illegal aliens' poor life choices threatening my livelihood. It happened once and I vowed to never let it happen again. Many asked why I was retiring. To avoid bad feelings I only shared the REAL reason with select people.

At the risk of sounding culturally biased (Mexican isn't a race but an ethnicity and nationality), their behavior is self-serving. Their priorities, rather than doing the right thing by hiring a lawyer and becoming legal, are getting a job and having kids. Two ladies in my evening class in their 20s had 5 kids each- all on public assistance. That's backward!! Our administrators coddled them, telling teachers who clamped down on attendance to lighten up ("They have kids; They have jobs.") They should have thought about their obligations before coming here!! Sorry, but it's like raising kids who are learning about boundaries and responsibility. If there's no structure you end up with self-centered brats.

So, I back the points totally. No, it's not just fringe far-right folks. It's anyone who lives and works in communities with large populations of illegal aliens and has experienced the disruption and problems that uncontrolled migration has caused. Some of my former students, registered Democrats, support Trump after doing the right thing themselves.