Divided States of America: Latino fears for a Trump presidency

With Donald Trump set to become the official Republican presidential candidate this week, ITV News has visited Phoenix in Arizona to see how his controversial policies would affect families, in the second of our series, Divided States of America.

Trump has promised to build a wall on America's border with Mexico and to carry out forced deportations of up to 11 million undocumented workers in the US.

Trump’s promises have stoked fear and anger in the Latino community in Phoenix as they have across America, with a number of protests following his rallies in the run-up to the presidential primary elections earlier this year.

There are 5.6 million undocumented Mexicans in the US, with the fear of deportation causing a push for naturalisation. There has been a 14% increase in applications for US citizenship since Trump announced his candidacy - and citizenship means the right to vote.

We spoke to three people from the city's Latino and Hispanic communities:

  • Elizabeth Gonzalez

Elizabeth Gonzalez, 40, is originally from Guerrero, Mexico, and is becoming a US citizen in time for the election. She has been a resident for 15 years and she intends to vote against Trump.

  • Felix Trejo

Felix Trejo Credit: ITV News

Felix Trejo's mother was forced to leave the US. His father was then jailed and deported when Felix was 13.

Felix, now 20 and training to be an architect, ran the family business through calls from his father in jail.

His father snuck back into the US after deportation to support his children.

  • Abril Gallardo

Abril Gallardo Credit: ITV News

Abril entered the US aged 12 with her family. They all entered the country illegally, running over the desert.

She’s on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a government programme that defers the removal of immigrants who were brought into the country unlawfully by their parents.

She is worried about Trump's policies splitting up her family.