Republicans and Democrats are trying to highlight their differences on a variety of issues ahead of November's elections, and a key focus is immigration. 

It's a topic thrust in the spotlight again after some Republican governors sent migrants from the southern border to states including Massachusetts, California and New York. 

What You Need To Know

  • Republicans and Democrats are trying to highlight their differences on a variety of issues ahead of November's elections, and a key focus is immigration

  • It's a topic being thrust into the spotlight, again, after some Republican leaders sent migrants from the southern border to states including Massachusetts, California and New York 

  • Sen. Josh Hawley, R- Mo., introduced a bill, the Empowering States to Deport Illegal Immigrants Act which aims to boost local officials ability to enforce federal immigration law

  • A Pew Research survey released on Thursday, shows Democrats’ messaging this election cycle may be resonating more with Latino voters 

When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chartered flights in mid-September for nearly 50 Venezuelan asylum seekers from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Republican leaders faced criticism from the other side.

“These migrants are human beings and Governor DeSantis of Florida -- I think he's guilty of political human trafficking,” Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.,told Spectrum News. “Thankfully, the people in Massachusetts have good hearts."

Meanwhile, some in the Republican party embraced the decisions of DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has bused migrants out of his state. 

“What Governor Abbott and Governor DeSantis did finally brought attention to the issue and got our country and got the Democrat Party -- which is in control of the White House of the Senate and the House -- finally paying attention to the devastation that they have caused by leaving an open border,” Daniella Álvarez, communications director for the Republican National Committee, said. 

Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who is not up for re-election this year, says immigration is important to his constituents. Hawley has taken on the issue by introducing legislation to allow individual states the power to enforce federal immigration laws.

His bill, the Empowering States to Deport Illegal Immigrants Act, aims to "remove illegal immigrants from the country" and wants to end the policy of releasing people into the U.S. once they file a claim for asylum, with orders to come back for their court date. The bill would also "prosecute people who commit crimes while entering the country illegally."

"It would be a lot better if these governors were able to return these folks over across the border. And that's what they want to do, to be clear, but they can't do it currently. Under federal law, they're not permitted to enforce federal immigration law," Hawley told Spectrum News. 

“The Biden administration’s extreme open border policies have had a devastating effect on the people of Missouri and the entire country. States have had limited ability to fight back during this period of record-breaking illegal border crossings," Hawley wrote in his news release on Tuesday. 

Andrew Selee, the president of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan group that researches immigration policy, said the discussion on immigration before the midterm elections is “political posturing.”

Selee says “there's a real appetite for coming together” to solve the issues at the border and transport people to other places in a coordinated way.

Still, a Pew Research survey released on Thursday shows Democrats’ messaging this election cycle may be resonating with Latino voters. 

The report found most Latino adults believe the "Democratic Party cares about Latinos and works hard to earn their vote,” the authors adding: “significantly fewer say the same of the Republican Party."