Media pundits wondered if Donald Trump's campaign for president ended the day he announced his candidacy, because on day one he gave his most controversial speech. Speaking from a podium at Trump Tower in New York City, he came out strongly against illegal immigration, calling some of those individuals who come here illegally "criminals" and "rapists." He received criticism from politicians and just about everyone in Hollywood, and got plenty of pushback from journalists. The immediate polling after he made those comments showed him tanking in favorable ratings among Hispanics, suggesting he could never dream of garnering the same numbers Mitt Romney gained in 2012.
Yet, now that Trump is the president-elect, we have exit polls suggesting that some Hispanic voters were not as offended as the media thought. Trump garnered two percent more of the Hispanic vote than Mitt Romney did in 2012, NBC News finds.
Trump claimed 29 percent of the Hispanic vote on Tuesday compared to Romney's 27 percent in 2012. With blacks, exit polls show Trump claimed 8 percent of the vote to the previous Republican nominee's 6 percent.
So what issues brought Hispanic voters to the polls? Believe it or not, one is illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is a significant issue for the voting bloc. In fact, a majority of Hispanic voters said the government's immigration policies are not strong enough.
After taking the time (sometimes years) to patiently wait through the paperwork to legally enter the United States, why wouldn't law-abiding Hispanic immigrants be frustrated by those who don't follow the rules?
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