No issue divides the Republican Party quite like immigration. Here is how it shakes out:
- Reactionaries: Immigrants are destroying America. They’re taking our jobs, driving wages down, swamping our culture, committing terrorist acts, and voting for Democrats. They must go!
- PBPs: Immigrants are an economic boon to America. They take jobs Americans either can’t or won’t do, from high tech to picking fruit. We need their labor.
- CDs: Assistance to the downtrodden is a Christian duty.
- CLs: We can’t support increasing the size of government for any purpose, much less this one.
The bottom line is that bipartisan immigration reform would pass Congress easily but for the Hastert Rule. The GOP leadership is unlikely to bring anything forward that could split the party this badly.