Before President Donald Trump made his way to Houston Monday, he was asked about the growing caravan of illegal aliens making its way through Mexico.
“Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, they're paid a lot of money, every year we give them foreign aid, and they did nothing for us, nothing,” said Trump.
According to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll, immigration is the number one issue on the minds of Republican voters.
“Immigration has been the top of every poll, every survey that I've been involved in this cycle, and I don't see it going away until we get a real solution to secure the border,” says Matt Langston, vice president of Axiom Strategies in Austin.
President Trump has pushed hard on illegal immigration in recent weeks,reminding his base that Democrats are the party of “abolish ICE”and “open borders.”
“Whether you came here four days ago, or you came here 150 years ago, that's who we are,” former vice president Joe Biden told a crowd over the weekend.
The KFF poll found that 25% of Republicans ranked immigration as the most important midterm issue. “Economy and Jobs” was second, followed by “health care,” “gun policy” and “tax cuts and reform."
“Without a doubt, immigration has always been the issue that's been an underlying point in this election cycle,” says Langston. “Donald Trump and the caravan, it's just now bringing it to a more fervored light.”