Forty-two percent of polled voters say Mexico should send people in the migrant caravan traveling through Mexico toward the U.S. border back to their home countries, according to a new American Barometer survey.

The poll, conducted by Hill.TV and the HarrisX polling company, also found that 31 percent of respondents said Mexico should let the migrants stay in the country, while 27 percent said Mexico should let them continue to travel to the U.S. border.

The survey also revealed a partisan divide on the issue.

Sixty percent of Republicans polled said Mexico should send the migrants back to their home countries, while 44 percent of independents and 26 percent of Democrats said the same.

Forty-three percent of Democratic respondents, 25 percent of independents and 9 percent of Republicans said the people in the caravan should be allowed to continue to move to the U.S. border.

Leaders of the caravan, which is made up of about 4,000 migrants, said on Wednesday that they would stop to rest in southern Mexico while they negotiated with Mexican authorities in an effort to get transport to Mexico City.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sarah Elizabeth SandersSarah Sanders on Trump's reported war dead criticism: 'Those comments didn't happen' Sarah Sanders memoir reportedly says Trump joked she should hook up with Kim Jong Un McEnany stamps her brand on White House press operation MORE Sanders praised Mexican authorities on Wednesday, saying they had slowed the progress of the caravan by blocking certain means of transportation.

President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE has made immigration, specifically the caravan, a central issue ahead of the midterms in an effort rally his base.

"I think the politics of it are pretty clear. I mean, there's definitely a strategy here, whether it's good strategy, strategic in a good way, you could certainly argue about," political analyst Ruy Teixeira told Hill.TV's Joe Concha on "What America's Thinking."

The Pentagon said Monday that it was sending 5,200 active-duty service members to respond to the caravan after the president called for military action.

Trump has also threatened to close the southern border and threatened to withhold aid to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala if the countries did not keep their residents from fleeing to the U.S.

The American Barometer was conducted Oct. 27-28 among 1,200 registered voters. The sampling margin of error is plus or minus 2.83 percentage points.

— Julia Manchester