Volume 14
The Democratic nominee , Hillary Clinton , was out there talking about the need to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants . When Ms . Durden heard that , she changed her voter registration to Republican the same day .
In a series of recent interviews , the families described a similar trajectory : The death of a loved one . The spasm of realizing that the other driver , or the gunman , was living in the country illegally .
The political awakening — for the Republicans , a hardening toward illegal immigrants ; for the Democrats , a quick , grim conversion . The relief , when another “ angel mom ” or “ angel dad ” saw them on the news and found them online .
July 2017 Edition
meeting , Don Rosenberg , a self-described lifelong liberal from Westlake Village , Calif ., it was hard to embrace Mr . Trump , even if he had the right idea about immigration .
As he watched Mr . Trump announce his presidential bid on TV , “ I ’ m saying to myself , he ’ s talking about illegal immigration — why did it have to be Trump ?” said Mr . Rosenberg , 64 , whose 25-year-old son died in a motorcycle accident in 2010 .
He had been struck by a Honduran man in the country illegally . “ To me , an immigration policy isn ’ t , ‘ Build a wall , Mexico will pay for it .’”
Most of all , the fear that their children would diminish into fading news and Facebook tributes , horror stories circulated in the outer boroughs of the American right — until Mr . Trump thundered into their lives , bearing cameras .
Immigration was “ one of those issues that , it didn ’ t affect me — I was busy working ,” said Steve Ronnebeck , 50 , whose 21-year-old son , Grant , was shot and killed as he worked overnight at a convenience store in Mesa , Ariz ., in January 2015 .
“ As time went on and the more angry I got , that ’ s when I got more active ,” he said . “ This is how I deal with my grief .”
( Steve Ronnebeck , whose son was killed by an illegal immigrant , on why he does not support sanctuary cities . Courtesy of Fox Business and YouTube . Posted on Jun 28 , 2017 )
For another parent who came to the Beverly Hills
( Grieving father takes aim at “ sanctuary cities ” in ads . Courtesy of CBS News . Posted on Jun 1 , 2017 .)
Still , by the election , Mr . Rosenberg had come around . He said that he had not voted for either Mrs . Clinton or Mr . Trump , knowing it was not likely to make a difference in California , but that if he had lived in a swing state , he would probably have cast his ballot for Mr . Trump .
V . I . P . Treatment
Here was the paradox of Donald Trump , the unfiltered tycoon who seemed as far away as Fifth Avenue and as close up as the living room TV .
Even as a legion of critics warned he was pandering to his fans on the way to betraying them , the alliance he had made with the families felt , to many of them , like an unshakable bond .
The thing was , he paid attention . And he never stopped .