During ABC’s coverage of the Iowa caucuses on Monday, ABC National Correspondent Mireya Villarreal reacted to polling show immigration as the number two most important issue among Iowa caucusgoers by stating that the issue is important in part because Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is busing migrants and “when you have an issue like this front and center that people don’t know a lot about,” “and when you have candidates that are using these hot topic items and phrases like deportations or border wall or Remain in Mexico policy and you have voters that don’t truly understand how the system works, then it becomes a very scary topic” and the issue “seems to really scare people into wanting to go to the polls. I’m not even sure why that is, I think it’s because they just don’t understand the topic.”
Villarreal said, “I think right now the reason is is because it’s in people’s faces, right? You have Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pushing migrants from the border to places like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, I think there is a true concern that this will happen in the backyards of people everywhere. And so, when you have an issue like this front and center that people don’t know a lot about, immigration is extremely complicated, but all people are seeing right now are the buses, … the border, the border wall, and when you have candidates that are using these hot topic items and phrases like deportations or border wall or Remain in Mexico policy and you have voters that don’t truly understand how the system works, then it becomes a very scary topic for them and one that is out of control and one that could be in their own communities very soon and looming. And so, the idea is is that we’re not taking care of the problem and that is exactly why it’s resonating with voters right now.”
She added that building a wall across the entire border is “nearly impossible” due to the terrain and noted that the Rio Grande River functions as a barrier in a lot of places and “when Trump came in, again, I think he was reliant on the fact that people don’t know and have never been to these border communities. So, by going and saying, we’re going to build this wall and Mexico’s going to pay for it, well, who’s going to call him out on that? It’s not going to be the voters in Iowa, because they’re not going to go down there and see it. I do think that this will be a huge point of contention that we will hear candidates continue to talk about for months, because it just seems to really scare people into wanting to go to the polls. I’m not even sure why that is, I think it’s because they just don’t understand the topic.”
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