Immigration is emerging as a top issue in the midterm elections — especially among Republicans
The nation's recent focus on immigration policy has struck a chord with voters.
Immigration is now one of the top issues of interest among people polled by HuffPost and YouGov this week, with 35 percent of voters choosing the topic as one of their top two concerns for the upcoming midterm elections.
Overall, immigration emerged as the number one issue, though Democrats and Democratic-leaning respondents chose healthcare and gun policies as their top two. While just 19 percent of blue voters picked immigration as a priority, a whopping 55 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters said it was a top concern. The second most popular issue for Republicans was the economy, with 38 percent.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Among both parties, focus on immigration is on the rise. HuffPost reports that in March, 10 percent of Democrats and 43 percent of Republicans said it was one of their top issues. The fact that immigration made the overall top two is in stark contrast to a 2016 Pew Research poll, when immigration was not counted even in the top five issues of interest. Back then, the economy and terrorism were the biggest issues, with 84 percent and 80 percent of respondents marking the issues as "very important" to their vote, respectively.
Analysts point out that there are still months to go until the midterms in the fall, and that voters want to hear more from candidates about health care. However, 44 percent said they wanted campaigns to focus even more on immigration, while 11 percent wished they'd say less.
The survey was conducted June 22-24 among a demographically representative 1,000 U.S. adults who were interviewed online. See more survey results at HuffPost.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
-
The Week contest: Mattress malfunctionPuzzles and Quizzes
-
6 trailside homes for hikersFeature Featuring a roof deck with skyline views in California and a home with access to private trails in Montana
-
How Mike Johnson is rendering the House ‘irrelevant’Talking Points Speaker has put the House on indefinite hiatus
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
