Exit polls Tuesday night suggested that voters' interest in immigration as a top issue in the 2024 presidential election appears to have waned.
The topic has dropped down the priority list for American voters, in a potentially worrying sign for former President Donald Trump, who has made curtailing illegal crossings at the southwest border with Mexico and mass deportations of undocumented migrants key talking points throughout his campaign.
CNN's exit poll showed that among Trump voters, 51 percent said the economy was the most important issue, while immigration was at 20 percent. The Associated Press' Vote Cast showed a similar result on the border, while NBC's poll showed just 11 percent viewed immigration as their main concern.
Earlier this year, border security was far higher on the list of voters' top issues, amid record-high crossings at the United States-Mexico border, at 28 percent in a Gallup poll.
Trump has made immigration a key focus of his 2024 campaign, as in his previous two, with promises of mass deportations and tougher measures at the southern border.
Vice President Kamala Harris has also spoken about immigration. While she has also promised a secure border, Harris wants to ensure more legal pathways to citizenship for those migrants already in the U.S.
NBC's poll showed that 20 percent of Trump voters saw immigration as a factor in their choice, while just 2 percent of Harris voters felt similarly.
As the campaign progressed, illegal crossings at the southwest border steadily fell—in part due to President Joe Biden's executive order in June effectively banning asylum crossings—and with that, the focus on the issue shifted.
Polling for Newsweek in mid-October showed abortion had overtaken immigration as a top issue for voters, alongside the economy, and Tuesday's exit polls appeared to reflect this.
Immigration advocacy groups have raised questions about the logistics of deporting upwards of 11 million people, while warnings have been issued about the impact on the U.S. economy should many undocumented workers be lost.
There has also been growing unease among voters about deporting those who have been in the country for several years, many of whom have started families or have spent little time in their home countries.
"Given a choice, voters overwhelmingly support a pathway to citizenship over mass deportations," The Immigration Hub Deputy Director Beatriz Lopez said in a statement to Newsweek in September. "No one in America wants to see families who have been here for many years separated—and that's what Trump's plan would do.
"For the last decade, voters have consistently demanded that our leaders deliver on a pathway to citizenship. The cruel policies of the past have no place in America."