GOP leaders: Anti-immigration stance hurts party

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JB Books

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GOP worried about alienating Hispanic voters.




CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - Republican speakers at a conference on reaching Hispanic voters urged the party to tone down its rhetoric on immigration and to take up comprehensive reform in Congress, warning that the party could lose ground with the country's increasingly diverse citizenry if it doesn't.

"(Hispanics) will be the swing voters as they are today in the swing states. If you want to elect a center-right president of the United States, it seems to me you should be concerned about places like New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Florida, Texas, places where but for the Hispanic vote, elections are won and lost," said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who co-chaired the conference organized by the new Hispanic Leadership Network.

But those gathered at the South Florida conference seemed split over whether the GOP's lack of Hispanic support is simply because of the party's tone, or if there's a more substantive problem with the GOP's policies.

"If you think it's about tone, you have missed the point," independent columnist Ruben Navarette told the audience of more than 300 at the Biltmore Hotel in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables. Other speakers blamed a liberal bias in the media and a few extreme voices in the party.

Lincoln Diaz-Balart, the Florida Republican who retired from Congress this year and has long championed immigration reform, suggested Republicans need to work their tone and message.

"The decibels have to be lower," he said. "It doesn't' matter how good are policy positions are, if we are perceived as being anti-immigrant, we cannot be the majority party."

Diaz-Balart also urged congressional leaders to quickly take up a comprehensive immigration bill that a bipartisan group of legislators has quietly worked on for months. Diaz-Balart promised the new proposal would address previous concerns about people in the country illegally earning residency before those who follow the rules.

"It solves many impossible-to-solve issues," he said, "including making sure people waiting legally get preference."

The daylong conference is the latest of several new Republican efforts to reach out to Hispanics, who have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats in recent presidential elections. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a possible 2012 presidential candidate, announced a similar effort in Washington, D.C., last month with his Americanos group. The conservative Heritage Foundation also now has a Spanish website, Libertad.org. Meanwhile, Alfonso Aguilar, former President George W. Bush's first citizenship and immigration czar, runs the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles.

The Hispanic Leadership Network is backed by former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, whose American Action Network funneled more than $30 million in campaign funds to Republicans in about 30 congressional races last year.

Bush did not speak on immigration Friday, though he has repeatedly supported comprehensive reform. He focused on the need for Republican officials to reach out to Hispanics in other ways, such as improving public education and appointing more Latinos to state offices and judgeships "even when nobody is watching."

Conference co-chairman and former U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez urged support for expanding free trade agreements with countries like Colombia and Panama, which he said is in line with the views of most Hispanic voters. He described those in the party who oppose the expansion as "extremes."

Although a moderator sought to steer the discussion away from the controversial issue of how to deal with illegal immigrants in the U.S., several conference panelists repeatedly returned to it.

"We can't ignore that there are about 12 million illegal immigrants in the nation, and we have to address that," said Aguirre, an ambassador to Spain under President George W. Bush.

Aguirre said doing so will take pressure off the nation's borders and allow law enforcement to focus on serious threats like drug traffickers.

"We need to be more proactive in being proud to be pro-immigration reform. There's no need to shy away from that," he said.

But U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, addressed the issue of what do with those in the country illegally in only one line of his 1,600 word speech on U.S. border security.

"We must find a credible and compassionate solution to the 12 million illegal immigrants who are living in this country," said the senator, who has repeatedly voted against comprehensive immigration bills that have reached the Senate floor. Cornyn was the only U.S. senator to speak at the conference.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, considered a potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate, said during a break he supports tackling border security first, but believes the country should address the status of those in the country illegally within the next 10 years.

Coelman called the conference a productive first step.

"obviously there's a thirst for this kind of discusion. tone i part of it," he said "but the fact is at the end of the day you get measreud by yours aciotns."

(This version CORRECTS Corrects title of Carlos Gutierrez.)

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 

R. Johnson

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So who is against immigration? I don't think there are many people who are anti-immigration. It's illegal entry into the country that people are against.
 

dennishoddy

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Thats not the GOP I associate with.
They are only discussing the hoards crossing the southern border.
This is discrimination against all the other ethnicities trying to legally gain citizenship. Case in point. A friend is a German Citizen that immigrated to this country as a spouse of an American Soldier.
After 10 years or so of the green card status, she went for the citizenship application. Completed all of the requirements. One of the requirements is to be able to speak and understand the English language.
She passed this easily. To her dismay, those speaking spanish(mexican) that had been in the country more than 10 years were allowed to have an interrupter, and did NOT have to pass the language clause. This clause is not unilateral, and only applies to our southern neighbors.
Discrimination is what it looks like to me.
Lock the borders.
Deport all illegal aliens.
Fast track all That have shown to have a desire to be a citizen by joining the military, graduating from college without a grant from the U.S., and eliminate the born in America kid rule where kids from illegal aliens, are automatically citizens.
 

dutchwrangler

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I'm pro-immigration. I'm anti-illegal aliens. Case in point is that my Canadian wife and I are going through the immigration process at this moment. Why the hell do we have to follow the rules and these invaders don't?

The fact that people refer to illegals as "immigrants" is insulting. They are not immigrants but criminal aliens since they are violationg US law by being in this country by not following the law. This pandering to one group to gain their votes is wrong no matter how it's dished out.

Deport their criminal asses.
 

dennishoddy

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I'm pro-immigration. I'm anti-illegal aliens. Case in point is that my Canadian wife and I are going through the immigration process at this moment. Why the hell do we have to follow the rules and these invaders don't?

The fact that people refer to illegals as "immigrants" is insulting. They are not immigrants but criminal aliens since they are violating US law by being in this country by not following the law. This pandering to one group to gain their votes is wrong no matter how it's dished out.

Deport their criminal asses.

The current PC term for illegal aliens is "undocumented" from the same people that call a war that involves a terrorist act a "man caused disaster".
Sounds like discrimination to me. They are saying it a "man" caused disaster. Not a "woman" caused disaster?

How many "woman" causes disasters have we gone through?
Just trying to be PC
 

dutchwrangler

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The current PC term for illegal aliens is "undocumented" from the same people that call a war that involves a terrorist act a "man caused disaster".
Sounds like discrimination to me. They are saying it a "man" caused disaster. Not a "woman" caused disaster?

How many "woman" causes disasters have we gone through?
Just trying to be PC

I don't roll with the PC crowd.
 

dutchwrangler

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Well, that's all nice, but do you guys think the GOP is being shortsighted, given the growing Hispanic dempgraphic?

If the GOP wants to attract this demographic then they'll have to pander to them. This of course may prompt even more law abiding repubs to say adios to the GOP. So on the one hand they win some, on the other they lose.
 
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