Yesterday, on Univision’s Al Punto, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) confidently told host Jorge Ramos that it is “very” clear that the GOP is “an anti-immigrant party.” According to Reid, Latinos are walking away from the Republican Party as “ninety percent of the Democrats in the Senate and Barack Obama, all want comprehensive immigration reform.” Indeed, polls show that an overwhelming majority of Latinos across the nation support comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level. Eighty-seven percent of Latino respondents said they wouldn’t even consider voting for a congressional candidate who favored forcing most of the undocumented population to leave the country. That might be problematic for the GOP come November, considering that while there isn’t a single Republican who has come out in support of the immigration reform framework recently introduced by Democrats, most — if not all — of the “copy cat” efforts aimed at reproducing the harsh immigration legislation recently passed in Arizona are being led by members of the GOP. Of the Republicans who currently hold or are vying for elected office, most have chosen to either commend Arizona’s drastic measure or remain silent. Such actions may have a decisive impact in the state of Arizona itself, where over 70 percent of the state’s Latinos are opposed to Arizona law SB-1070, and at least two-thirds of those Latinos are, or will be, eligible to vote.

FLIP-FLOP: Up until recently, Reid would not have gotten away with calling the GOP the “anti-immigrant party.” Less than four years ago, 62 U.S. senators, including 23 Republicans, voted for the relatively moderate Bush-backed immigration bill. At that time, Republican support wasn’t limited to moderates and mavericks — Sens. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) both joined Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in voting in favor of it. The bill was never reconciled with the much harsher Arizona-like immigration legislation that had passed the House before the 109th Congress ended, and in 2007, the 110th Congress started from scratch with a far more conservative bill that failed amidst angry anti-immigrant vitriol that overwhelmingly came from the mouths of Republicans. Nonetheless, the effort still garnered 12 Republican votes. Perhaps the most jarring difference between then and now is that those who were once the GOP’s main proponents of immigration reform are the ones stalling it in 2010. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) once defended his support of the 2007 bill by saying, “Do I sit on the sidelines and say, ‘That’s a bad bill?’ Or do I get in the fight and try to shape it as best I could to meet the objectives that I think are more appropriate?” Now, he has reportedly stated that “Republicans will use the opportunity to filibuster,” if immigration reform is brought up in 2010. McCain has also indicated that he will block immigration reform until the borders are secured. However, just a few years ago, McCain described “enforcement-first” policies as an “ineffective and ill-advised approach.” McConnell, meanwhile, agrees that time would be “better spent” on border security. Taking a cue from the more moderate members of their party, the GOP’s hardliners have essentially been handed a carte blanche to be as anti-immigrant as they want to be — an opportunity which they certainly haven’t let go to waste.

“Interestingly, a majority of Hispanics agree that this law [SB-1070] should be enforced here in Arizona.” — Former Arizona congressman J.D. Hayworth, 5/02/10

VERSUS

“A poll of Arizona Latino voters by Latino Decisions, with the help of Arizona State University, found that 70% ‘strongly oppose’ the law and 11% ‘moderately’ oppose the law.”
— La Opinion, 5/07/10