A new poll from the Washington Post confirms what political observers have been warning about the GOP and immigration reform — pushing through a path to citizenship will be good for the party’s long-term prospects but potentially dangerous for its immediate future.
The poll found that 83 percent of Hispanics want the House of Representatives to pass immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship.
But 62 percent of Republicans say they oppose a path to citizenship.
Pro-immigration reform activists — from immigrant rights groups and the business community — are busy trying to convince Republicans to bet on the future.
The California Chamber of Commerce recently launched a campaignto encourage the state’s members of the House of Representatives to pass immigration reform.
The Chamber wants a strong temporary worker program and strong border security that doesn’t jeopardize relations with the state’s biggest trading partner, Mexico.
Some are publicly reminiscing about the Republican Party’s decline in California following passage of Proposition 187in 1994. The voter-approved initiative (later found to be unconstitutional) sought to deny public education and other social services to people living in the state illegally.
Nearly 20 years later, Latinos are now the state’s largest demographic groupand Democrats dominate California politics, including a super-majority of California’s legislature.
The August break for Congressional representatives will be a hot one. Immigrant rights’ groups are preparing to target Republican House members who might be persuaded to support their cause. But those same Congress members are also likely to hear a different message, loudly, from their base.
