The percentage of Americans who say immigration is the most important issue in the country grew from 14% in June to 22% in July -- the highest percentage for an issue in the history of Gallup's "most important problem" question.
The importance of immigration among Republicans went from 21% in June to 35% in July -- more than double any other policy area.
Additionally, the percentage of Democrats that named immigration as the most important issue went from 10% in June to 18% in July, and the percentage of Independents went from 13% to 17%.
The current 35% of Republicans surpasses that of 2006, when 30% of Republicans viewed immigration as the most significant challenge for the the country. At that time, 16% of Independents and 11% of Democrats said immigration was the number one issue.
The record-breaking overall percentage places the topic of immigration ahead of the government, which has been named the number one issue for Americans since January 2017. This is the second time that immigration was top concern of voters, with the first time being in 2014.
With midterm Congressional elections less than four months away, the increased focus on the issue of immigration, especially among Republicans, could have a significant impact on the way Americans vote in November.
For more on this story, see Gallup.
