Candidates’ Immigration Stance Critical To Voters, Gallup Poll Shows

Where a 2016 presidential candidate stands on immigration is extremely important to one in five registered U.S. voters, according to a new Gallup poll released Wednesday.

Aside from President Obama’s executive actions that provided amnesty to some 4 million immigrants currently in the country illegally, the federal government has been unable to pass a comprehensive reform measure, according to the Washington Examiner.

The issue, in particular illegal immigration, has emerged as one of the most widely discussed and controversial topics of the 2016 election cycle, largely thanks to Republican front-runner Donald Trump. The billionaire real estate mogul has made it a centerpiece of his campaign, promising to deport all illegal immigrants, end birthright citizenship and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, as HNGN previously reported.

The rest of the Republican field hold fairly diverse opinions when it comes to illegal immigration, while practically every major Democratic candidate has publicly backed establishing a pathway to citizenship.

Gallup found that Republican voters were nearly 10 percent more likely than Democrats or independents to only vote for a candidate who shares their views on immigration. Hispanic voters were also much more likely to take the issue into account before backing a candidate.

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