One in eight Arizona residents is an immigrant. Because many have limited English-language skills or don't have legal status, they work in service industries such as food trucks or taco stands on the outskirts of Queen Creek.

One in six Arizona residents is a native-born U.S. citizen with at least one immigrant parent, 55% of whom are from Mexico.

With such a large percentage of the Arizona population being immigrants, migrants, and native-born Latinos, the 2024 election held a large bearing on several Latino lives in Queen Creek. Many immigrants have already begun their search for an immigration lawyer since election results were posted.

“Since the election, there has been a rise in clientele,” says Christopher Stender, an immigration lawyer serving in Queen Creek. “There’s a lot in the immigrant community asking: What’s next? What’s going to happen? What’s going to change? They watch the news, too.”

Tony Jiminez, a Queen Creek resident from Veracruz, Mexico, described the experience of immigrating from Mexico to Queen Creek as “muy feo,” or very unpleasant. Traveling from Veracruz to Queen Creek is more than 1,500 miles, and Tony says that he took buses and walked miles upon miles to come to the United States of America.

Now, he works at a small taco stand on the corner of Ellsworth and Germann roads.

“I’ve been working here for one to two months,” he said. “Several people come to work here. At times it’s just me or my coworker, at times it’s our boss.” He plans to continue selling food to Queen Creek locals for as long as necessary before he can be eligible for formal employment in the United States. 

In the town of Queen Creek, more street vendors have opened trucks and set up tents to sell food in recent years. “Over 81,000 immigrant business owners accounted for 22% of all self-employed Arizona residents in 2018 and generated $1.6 billion in business income,” reported the American Immigration Council.

Jiminez’s chances of receiving work authorization in the United States could be delayed in the future due to examination and oversight of immigration policies under President-Elect Donald Trump.

Trump promised drastic changes to the immigration laws, border patrol, and execution of migration laws throughout his campaign. 

With the 2024 election results posted, immigrants know change is imminent.

According to Stender, many have started their search for legalization, work authorization and more. A dramatic change in the immigrant community will result in a dramatic change in the community at large, as almost 6% of Queen Creek residents are foreign-born, according to the United States Census Bureau.

Immigration numbers at the U.S.-Mexico border have already begun to change.

In December 2023, encounters with immigrants at the border peaked at almost 250,000 – the most recorded in a single month ever – but have sharply dropped since then at a decline of 77%. In light of the 2024 election, immigration plummeted even more sharply, according to the Pew Research Center.

Tony is one of the thousands of immigrants from Mexico and other central and southern American countries who come to the United States in search of economic freedom and prosperity, but he is in a precarious position, as an undocumented migrant who like millions of others is drawn to the strongest economy in the world.  

“I think this is one of the greatest countries in the world so that’s why a lot of people want to come here, including our friends on the border of Mexico,” said Stender. “It’s been happening for hundreds of years – we have a strong draw, a strong economy, a better standard of living so it's always going to attract people from Mexico and further abroad.

“Frankly, it’s a better life for themselves and their kids. Obviously, there are specific people that are fleeing persecution, which is a separate issue, but I think the vast majority of people want a better life here,” says Stender.

Even with a new world of possibilities open to immigrants, they still face several challenges, including long days in the sun, language barriers, property restrictions, and challenges receiving work authorization.

“The change made to the immigration law in 1996/1997 is very difficult to overcome for many people because if you cross the border illegally or have multiple crossings a lot of times there are restricted bars in the law that prevent you from immigrating from three to 10 years. There are some waivers available but they are very limited and difficult to get. So that law under Bill Clinton created a lot of hardships for people,” Stender said.

Looking to the future, reformed legislation may further affect immigrants as part of Trump’s next term. The H-1B visa program, which enables U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in special occasions, will most likely be reformed.

During Trump’s first term, the former President attempted to reform the program, tightening the definition of “special occasions,” and increasing requests for evidence, though his attempts were blocked or overturned by the courts. It can be expected these reforms may be enacted in the following term. This means a more strenuous process for illegal immigrants to attain formal employment.

Over a quarter-million U.S. citizens in Arizona live with at least one family member who is undocumented, according to the American Immigration Council.

“Philosophically, it’s understandable,” said Stender. “Legally, it's sad because there’s a broken immigration system. So there’s not those avenues to let people in in a lawful manner, so people take it into their own hands and enter unlawfully. And then their ability to get their papers are somewhat restricted. Once you cross illegally, there are certain doors that are closed, so it's not an ideal way to do it, but millions of people have done it.

“I think the broader issue is that people are coming here without work authorization or they lose work authorization, and the easiest way around it is self-employment,” said Stender. “So, if you work in construction or you start your own company or you sell tacos or you’re a street vendor, you can do that without work authorization because you’re self-employed.”

Rocio Sanchez, a worker at La Birria food truck on the corner of Hunt Highway and Thompson Road, and an immigrant from northern Mexico, just started selling food about three weeks ago. She says – contrary to Tony’s experience – that her experience traveling to the United States was good, and that the people she encounters are “nice and friendly.”

However, Sanchez also admitted to the difficulty she faces trying to receive work authorization to be permitted to attain formal employment.

“I think the current immigration system doesn’t serve in the best interest of the immigrants and it doesn’t serve the best interest of the country,” says Stender. “It’s sad because I wish both sides could get together and do what’s good for the country but also for the immigrants. We really need to fix this system that’s not performing the way it should for any party.”

Leah Haynes is a student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.