Over the past few months, we’ve seen a parade of Donald Trump voters experiencing some serious buyer’s remorse. There are farmers whose futures have been ruined by the tariffs, people whose life-saving medication is being taken away, and, of course, the many Trump voters left blindsided after the guy who repeatedly promised to deport immigrants deported the immigrants in their immediate family.
But some stories stand out. The New York Times has reported on the case of 48-year-old Chris Allred, a recruiter at a trucking company in Bentonville, Arkansas. He describes illegal immigrants as “an army of takers”, adding: “They’re parasites. What do parasites do? Over time, they eventually kill the host. And that’s what this country’s headed towards.”
Then he fell in love with Geleny, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador. The two quickly hit it off, with her explaining she felt forced to head north to the United States after natural disasters and economic downturn left her with few ways to provide for her three children. All too soon, they were married, with Allred concluding that his new wife was one of the “good immigrants”.
None of that mattered to the government. On June 2, after fruitlessly trying all legal avenues to get Geleny legal citizenship, she was given two options by a judge: either go through the asylum process with no guarantee of success or self-deport. She chose to return to Ecuador, and Allred has decided to go with her.
From Trump voter to immigrant overnight
Allred openly admits to being “terrified” of what this will mean for him. The only time he’s ever been out of the United States was to spend a single hour in Tijuana, and he’s paranoid that Ecuador will be a crime-ridden hellhole, saying he stays up late obsessively reading about murder rates.
But he’s now all in, selling his possessions, studying Spanish, and trying to figure out how he’s going to make money in Ecuador (his current plan is to explore working in medical tourism). And as for his views on the Trump administration? Well, it’s safe to say they’ve evolved:
“Kristi Noem’s out there saying, ‘We’re gonna find you. We’re hunting you down.’ Like they’re animals. No. They’re human beings. They’re people. There’s a base line of respect that they deserve.”
That’s probably about as much progress as we can expect from the typical Trump voter. Allred still believes that the number of immigrants in the United States should be reduced, but is about to find out exactly what it feels like to be plunged into an unfamiliar country where you don’t speak the language, have to quickly find a job, and are far from your family.
Here’s hoping the Ecuadorean government is more welcoming to him than the Trump regime has been to his wife!
