The latest nationwide poll seeking to find the top issue heading into November’s midterm elections revealed that immigration is most important to American voters – trumping the economy.
With President Donald Trump’s border wall, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids of criminal illegals and border separations of children and parents dominating the news in recent months, voters are looking forward to weighing in at the ballot box on their take about how immigration should be handled.
Goodbye economy, hello immigration
It appears as if former President Bill Clinton’s mantra of the 1990s, “It’s the economy, stupid,” will not apply this year, as the Reuters/Ipsos poll divulged that immigration now takes a top seat over the economy, edging it out by one percentage point.
“Across a poll of 2,252 registered voters, 14.8 percent identified immigration as the most important issue determining their vote, Breitbart News reported. “The economy was selected as the top issue among 13.9 percent of polled registered voters.”
Trump’s tough-on-immigration stance has caught American voters’ attention – whether for the better or the worse.
“Americans believe immigration tops the economy and healthcare as the most important issue determining their vote ahead of the November midterm elections,” WPTA-21 noted from the poll results.
Just over a month ago, Trump told Americans that he was clinching his grip on illegal entries in the United States even tighter by prosecuting them as criminals.
“Reuters/Ipsos data shows that immigration became a top concern for registered voters in the United States after the Trump administration in May announced its ‘zero tolerance’ policy on illegal immigrants, saying they would be criminally charged,” Reuters explained. “The policy became a political lightning rod in mid-June with disclosures that thousands of children were separated from their parents who were accused of crossing illegally into the country.”
Breaking it down
More and more conservative voters are taking the immigration issue very seriously as they anticipate heading polling stations this fall.
“Twenty-six percent of registered Republicans cited immigration as the most important issue likely to determine their vote – up 14 percentage points from a similar poll conducted at the beginning of June,” Reuters’ Maria Caspani relayed from the poll’s results.
When pollsters conducted their survey between June 28 and July 2, they found that Democrats are more mindful of keeping some form of Obamacare around than voicing their concern over the financial state of the nation.
“Healthcare remains the top issue for registered Democrats (16 percent), followed by the economy (14 percent), the Reuters/Ipsos poll shows,” Caspani informed.
In fact, pushing for open borders ended up coming in third amongst the top issues of the political left.
“Seven percent of Democrats cited immigration as their top concern,” she added.
Strong feelings divide partisan lines on immigration …
Even though the issue of immigration is resonating more with Americans, their overall take on Trump’s policies concerning the border and acceptance of refugees remained relatively static.
“However, Trump’s approval on his handling of immigration remains little changed since the beginning of the year, with 52 percent of registered voters saying in an ongoing Reuters/Ipsos poll that they disapprove of the way the president is handling immigration,” Caspani indicated.
Concerning the issue of how Trump is tackling America’s immigration crisis, Republicans and Democrats see things quite differently, with conservative voters believing that the mass influx of illegals as a threat to the economy and national security, while leftists see cracking on illegal aliens by applying the law as a form of racial discrimination.
“Eighty-one percent of Republicans said they approve of his handling of the issue, while 84 percent of registered Democrats said they disapprove,” Caspani divulged once the results were divided according to party lines.
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