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In a city between two nations, Arnoldo Montiel knows exactly where he stands on immigration.

The 80-year-old has lived almost all his life in Nogales, on the border between Mexico and the US.

He says the issue is one of the main reasons he voted for Donald Trump.

“These are people who are illegal. They don’t belong in the United States,” he says. “If they need to come in, we welcome them. But they have to be legal.”

As he drives toward the border wall stretching across the Arizona city, he says he thinks this is why Kamala Harris lost the election.

“Why do you think she lost a lot?” he asks, before answering his own question: “The border and foreign affairs.”

In many ways, Arnoldo’s life is defined by the question of borders, not only because of where he lives, but also because of who he loves.

His wife Lupita lived on the Mexican side of the border wall, which meant she had to apply for citizenship.

Like her husband, she supports Trump’s immigration approach, which the president-elect believes will entail mass deportations.

She calls President Biden’s approach ‘terrible’.

“He just let everyone come in, there have been crimes, there have been murders,” she added, echoing some of Trump’s claims on the issue on the day he told NBC News he would go ahead with mass deportation plans , regardless of the price.

For some, like young mother Corinna, the topic is more than a debate: it is their reality.

She voted for Kamala Harris, with her family at the center, because she wants her two-year-old daughter to grow up in the US.

Her Mexican husband is currently applying for U.S. citizenship and she fears stricter rules around border controls will separate her family.

“I want my family to be together and I want a better future for my daughter,” she said, adding: “I just hope everything works out in the end.”