Navigating the Playing Field on Immigration

Sen. John McCain's trip to Latin America this week--his third foreign trip since clinching the Republican nomination--has brought immigration back to the forefront of the presidential campaign. As McCain hits Mexico City today and both candidates step up their efforts to reach out to Hispanic voters, a number of surveys shed light on Americans' views on the contentious topic. Overall, immigration is broadly considered one of the top issues in the campaign, but neither presidential candidate holds a clear advantage on it, as most surveys place McCain and his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama within striking distance of each other on managing immigration. This tight margin reflects the deep division in opinions on immigration by ideology and along several demographic lines. In a June 2008 CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 8 percent chose illegal immigration as the most important issue in their presidential vote decision. CNN has asked this question five