Poll: Immigration Soars, Jobs Fall to Number 2 Issue

Immigration concerns spiked the month after Arizona passed its controversial law, and jobs fell to the number two issue behind "economy in general," according to a new Gallup poll.

For Republicans and folks out West, immigration soared as a priority: for Republicans it rose seven-fold from 2 to 14%; for Westerners it rose eight-fold, from 2 to 16%.

It's too early to say what this means for the prospects of immigration reform, but the spike in interest among conservative Westerners suggests that some far-right Republican candidates in the Southwest might see advantage in prodding an immigration debate that Sen. Reid recently placed before climate change in the docket. High unemployment could be stoking nativist flames, as Gallup also recently found that 51% of Americans who had heard of the ultra-conservative Arizona law also supported it.