Top Republicans Suddenly Back Immigration Reform After Latinos Overwhelmingly Back Obama

Top Republicans Suddenly Back Immigration Reform After Latinos Overwhelmingly Back Obama

When Democrats tried to get the DREAM Act and a path to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants through Congress in 2010, Republicans blocked the immigration reform measure in the Senate. But after a campaign in which GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney staked out harsh anti-immigration positions, and with President Obama winning 75 percent of Latino voters, several key leaders in the Republican party are coming out in favor of immigration reform:

House Speaker John Boehner (OH): Saying the issue has been around for far too long, Boehner said in an ABC interview that “I’m confident that the president, myself, others can find the common ground to take care of this issue once and for all.”

Former Gov. Haley Barbour (MS): Haley argued on the “Today” show that Republicans need to be in favor of good policy. “And good policy on immigration in the United States is, we are in a global battle for capital and labor, and we need to have what is good economic policy for America on immigration because we do need labor,” he said. “We not only need Ph.Ds in science and technology, we need skilled workers and we need unskilled workers. And we need to have an immigration policy that is good economic policy, and then — and then the politics will take care of itself.”

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Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), who is running for the chairmanship of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Politico that Republicans will have to change how they reach out to Latino voters. “In some fashion, the way we have dealt with immigration gives us a black eye. And we need to figure out how to talk about issues and pursue policies that matter to Latino, Hispanic voters,” he said. And that’s clear from the exit poll results. Among Latino voters, immigration was the second most important issue behind jobs. Sixty percent of Latinos in the U.S. know someone who is an undocumented immigrant, and 90 percent are within two generations of immigrating to the U.S. After Romney spent most of his campaign embracing harmful immigration policies, most Latino voters reported that they thought Romney was “hostile toward Latinos,” while 66 percent said they believe Obama “truly cares about Latinos.”

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Full article here: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/11/09/1163551/top-republicans-now-back-immigration-reform-after-latino-voters-overwhelmingly-back-obama/