Border Crisis Shakes Up Midterm Races, Immigration is Now A Top Concern For Voters

This July 18, 2014, file photo shows protestors in Philadelphia demonstrating near the Consulate of Mexico in support of immigrants recently entering the United States via Mexico. For Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania the influx of Central American children who have crossed illegally into the United States has propelled immigration to a top concern for voters in his heavily rural district far from the Mexican border, eclipsing the new health care law and the federal deficit. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

With November elections approaching, a new poll shows that the crisis of unaccompanied children at the border has made immigration a pivotal issue for voters.

According to Fox Latino News, Republican Senate candidates have focused ads on the issue, and they do have the potential to affect campaigns in unpredictable ways that hold risks for members of both parties and for President Barack Obama.

How the issue plays out over the fall depends both on what happens in South Texas, where border arrivals have declined in the summer heat, but could rise again, and in Washington, where Obama is weighing extending deportation protections and work permits to millions more people already living in the U.S. illegally.

Such a move could upend the politics around immigration yet again, thrilling Latino voters who will be crucial for the 2016 presidential election. But it could also rile up Republican base voters, who are more likely to turn out this November and could make the difference in a handful of GOP-leaning states where vulnerable Democratic incumbents are trying to hold on.