During the last presidential campaign, some believed conservative Republicans' opposition to comprehensive immigration reform turned off Hispanic voters toward the GOP. But this new survey from Pew suggests the issue ranks a little lower in the minds of Latinos than suggested by conventional wisdom. Pew released the poll last week and wrote:

Only three-in-ten (31%) Latinos rate immigration as an "extremely important" issue facing the incoming Obama administration, placing it sixth on a list of seven policy priorities that respondents were asked to assess in a nationwide survey of 1,007 Latino adults conducted from December 3 to December 10, 2008 by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center.

The top-rated issue among Latinos is the economy; 57% of Hispanics say it is an extremely important issue for the new president to address. Education, health care, national security and the environment all also rate higher than immigration as a policy priority among Hispanics, while energy policy ranks lower.

Like other Americans, Hispanics rated the economy as the top issue. Immigration ranked 6th on the list, virtually tied with the environment and well below education and health care.

These numbers suggest President Obama's lopsided support among Hispanics was not due to Latino anger toward Republicans about immigration but because they trusted the Democrats more on the issue most salient to them--the economy.