One in five voters said they would only vote for a candidate who shares their exact views on immigration, a new Gallup poll finds.
The poll, released Wednesday, surveyed registered voters in the U.S. about how important they felt immigration was as a policy issue and how it may influence who they vote for in the upcoming presidential primaries.
The findings echo voters' stances on another contentious issue: abortion. Nearly one-fifth of voters polled said they would only vote for a candidate who matched their views on abortion. However, an additional 60% said immigration is one of many important issues they would consider, which is about 10 percentage points higher than those voters' responses on abortion, according to Gallup.
Immigration has been consistently in the headlines this election cycle since Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called undocumented immigrants from Mexico "rapists" and accused them of bringing drugs into the country.
Other candidates have also received attention for their comments about immigration. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush got a lot of criticism when he used the term "anchor babies" while talking about the birth tourism industry in the U.S in August and tried to backtrack by characterizing it as an Asian problem. Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina joined in to declare that birth tourism was an industry which needed to stop.
The poll also reveals a difference across party lines, as Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say they would only vote for someone who shared their immigration stances.
It is unclear how much Trump's campaign has elevated the issue of immigration. In a poll conducted in May, Gallup found that relative to other issues, such as foreign policy and economics, immigration still lags in importance.
While this specific poll also shows that Hispanic voters and black voters are more likely than white voters to care strongly about a candidate's immigration stance -- it is important to note that the Latino community has consistently rated education and economic issues as more important, according to a Pew Research Center study.