Anti-immigrant rhetoric hurts GOP's standing with Hispanics
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Anti-immigrant rhetoric hurts GOP's standing with Hispanics
Kent Hoover
Washington Bureau Chief
Republicans will lose the gains they've made among Hispanic voters under President Bush if they allow "partisan radical demagogues" to control the immigration reform debate, says Latino Coalition President Robert Deposada.
A new survey of Hispanic registered voters found that a majority support increasing the number of border patrol agents and making sure that employers only hire workers who are in the United States legally. But they also overwhelmingly support a program to allow immigrants to work temporarily in the United States.
The House immigration reform bill focused on tough enforcement provisions, including making it a felony to be in the United States illegally. But it didn't include a guest worker program.
Hispanics were offended not only by the content of the House bill, but also the anti-immigrant rhetoric of many Republicans, Deposada says.
The message that these Republicans sent to Hispanics was "you're against me as an Hispanic, you're against me as a community," Deposada says.
The good news for Republicans is that most Hispanic voters are conservative on economic and social issues, the poll found.
Business groups also were offended by the House immigration bill, including small business organizations that support Republicans on most other issues.
Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, says workers in a global economy need to be able to go back and forth between countries.
"If Republicans suffer because of this issue, that's their own problem," Kerrigan says.
Meanwhile, the National Federation of Independent Business, which stayed silent during the House immigration debate, is concerned about the bill's requirements to force employers to verify the Social Security numbers of employees against a government database. The bill includes stiff fines for violations.
NFIB Executive Vice President Dan Danner says a mandatory verification system could disadvantage small businesses because they don't have the resources to hire lawyers to challenge the government when there is a dispute over a worker's legal status.
The Senate plans to take up immigration reform next month, and NFIB will "have a role to play," Danner says.
"People will care how it affects small business," he says.
For more information on the Latino Coalition poll, see www.TheLatinoCoalition.com.