THE GOP’S BEST HOPE ON IMMIGRATION
Bloomberg View: GOP Immigration Hope
Republican Senator Marco Rubio inches toward supporting the Dream Act
THE GOP’S BEST HOPE ON IMMIGRATION
In a Republican primary notable for its bleak attacks, one event offered a ray of hope. Speaking to a Hispanic group in Miami, Florida Senator Marco Rubio took a tentative step toward reclaiming his party’s pro-immigrant legacy.
Harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric has been a mainstay of this year’s Republican campaign, with Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich proposing immigration policies that variously combine punitive fantasy (Romney’s mass “self-deportation”) with Rube Goldberg governance (Gingrich’s jerry-rigged “citizens’ review” panels to determine which illegal grandparents get to stay and which get the boot).
It’s worth recalling that in 2006 a Republican-controlled Senate supported immigration reform that included a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. Although that bill failed to pass the Republican House, Republican President George W. Bush supported it, saying the U.S. could be “a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time.”
Rubio’s positions on illegal immigrants have largely echoed party orthodoxy, but he deviated from the script when he said the U.S. must “figure out a way to accommodate” young illegal immigrants who “want to serve in the military or are high academic achievers.” What Rubio was referring to, however obliquely, was the Dream Act, legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who attend college or volunteer for the armed forces. Republicans have largely refused to back such legislation in Congress. The party’s Presidential candidates have denounced it.
Rubio’s link to the moderate immigration policies of Bush and Republicans past is significant—if the senator wants it to be. Rubio has endorsed no one for President, but Romney and Gingrich are both quick to praise him. With their party facing a lopsided electoral disadvantage among Hispanic voters, Republicans need Rubio, a son of Cuban immigrants, more than he needs them.
Illegal immigration is not an easy issue. The prospect of comprehensive reform, encompassing a viable guest-worker program, a path to citizenship for illegal residents, expanded access to visas, and a new regime to hold employers accountable, has never seemed more distant. If anyone can single-handedly alter that calculus, it’s Rubio. A public endorsement of the Dream Act would be a good place for him to start.