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Pearcewiththeperfectscapegoat.”
A monthlater,afterS.B. 1070 sailed
throughthelegislature,Arizona’sgov-
ernor,Jan Brewer,signeditinto law.
Afterward,Adamsleftofficetorunforan
opencongressionalseat.Hewasdefeated
intheRepublicanprimarybya candidate
moreoutspokenonimmigrationwho was
backed by Arpaio and Pearce.Butevenasit crested,anti-immigrant
fervorinArizonashowedsignsofburn-
ingitselfout,atleastinthePhoenixsub-
urbs.InthewakeofS.B.1070’spassage,
Arizonawastargetedforboycottsbycit-
iesandcorporationsacrossthecountry,
hurting tourism anddepriving busi-
nessesofmuch-neededrevenue.The
GreatRecessiondevastatedPhoenixand
thesurroundingareas,whichsuffereda
severehousingcollapse.Aseconomic
opportunitiesdriedup,cross-border
immigrationwanedandmanyundocu-
mentedmigrantsreturnedhome.
InMaricopaCounty’sdiversifying
suburbs,theexplicitfocusonrace,and
thedemagogicfiguresspurringiton,
becamediscomfitingtomanyresidents,
Whiteand non-Whitealike.In 2011 a
groupcalledCitizensfora BetterArizona
launcheda successfulrecallcampaign
against Pearce,whobecamethefirst
lawmakerinstatehistorywhomvoters
removedfromoffice.“Youbegantosense
justa changeinthepoliticsofthepeo-
plewholiveinthesuburbs,”Bowiesays.
Similarshiftswereoccurringacross
thecountryandinsomesensewere
predestined,theinevitableresultofthe
changingcompositionofU.S.suburbs.
AccordingtoFrey,oftheBrookings
Institution, the White population
sharein 358 ofthenation’s 364 metro-
politanareashasdeclinedsince2010.
Trump’spresidency, hesays,accel-
erateda shiftthatwasalreadyunder
way.“SomeofTrump’ssupporteven
beforehecameintoofficehadtodo
withunderlyinganti-immigrantsen-
timentintheUnitedStates,whichI
thinkhaschanged,”Freysays.“From
thatperspective,MaricopaCounty is on
thefrontlinesofthatchange.”
RecentpollsshowJoeBidenwin-
ningArizona byasmuch as 10 per-
centagepoints,a gapthatevensome
ofTrump’smostvociferousdefenders
take seriously. “The suburbs of Phoenix○ IN CHANDLER, SOUTHEAST OF PHOENIX○ A HOME IN SUN CITY, WHICH IS POPULAR AMONG RETIREES○ INTEL’S CAMPUS IN CHANDLER