Tensions at the US-Mexico border have long been a staple of Donald Trump’s campaigns against the Democrats, with his 2016 promises to “build the wall” playing an instrumental part in his election.
This year, the border crisis and illegal immigration are once again front-and-center — for both candidates. But how do Hispanic voters feel about these issues?
The majority of Hispanic voters (60 percent) believe that there is a migrant crisis at the southern border of the United States, according to an exclusive new poll from Prolific for The Independent.
The poll of 855 Hispanic participants on the Prolific platform has been adjusted to be nationally representative.
This belief transcends party lines, as even 46 percent of Democrats admit that there is a crisis at the border.
Republican Latinos are unsurprisingly the most likely to say there is a border crisis (91 percent).
Overall, the poll shows Harris as the clear favorite among Hispanic voters, with 62 percent of the vote and Trump at 32 percent.
Yet Trump has a substantial 19-point lead among Hispanic independent voters, well above the national average for independents.
Andrew Gordon, researcher at Prolific, says: “Immigration and border concerns appear to be key drivers in shaping the preferences of Latino independents in this election.”
“Given that independents make up 31% of the Latino electorate, this division could potentially tilt the overall Latino vote more toward the Republican side on November 5.”
Rural Hispanic voters are the only other group among whom Trump has a small lead, at 47 percent of the vote compared to 45 percent for Harris.
This decreases to 34 percent support for Trump among suburban Hispanic voters, and just 22 percent among those living in urban areas.
Though Latinos are more inclined towards Trump than Latinas, according to the poll, they still appear to be voting Harris overall; and the political gender divide is certainly less pronounced in the Hispanic community than on a national scale.
Half of all Hispanics (51 percent) say that the two candidates’ stances on immigration will be very or extremely important in deciding their vote.
