[The remarks are a
departure for Mr. Paul, who as a Senate candidate in 2010 called for an
electronic fence and helicopter stations to help secure the border with Mexico.
His new message follows the publication on Monday of a blistering report from
the Republican National Committee that urged the party’s members to champion an
immigration overhaul that Hispanics can embrace or risk seeing the party
shrinking “to its core constituencies only.”]
By Ashley Parker and Michael D. Shear
 |
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Senator Rand Paul, in a speech Tuesday, spoke of
bringing illegal immigrants “
out of the shadows and into becoming and being
taxpaying members
of society.”
|
WASHINGTON —
Republican opposition to legalizing the status of millions of illegal
immigrants is crumbling in the nation’s capital as leading lawmakers in the
party scramble to halt eroding support among Hispanic voters — a shift that is
providing strong momentum for an overhaul of immigration laws.
Senator Rand Paul of
Kentucky, a Tea Party Republican, on Tuesday became the latest to embrace a
more welcoming approach, declaring to the nation’s 11 million illegal
immigrants that if they want to work in America, “then we will find a place for
you.”
While he never uttered
the word “citizenship” and said a secure border must come first, Mr. Paul
strongly implied that citizenship would eventually be available to them.
Republican sentiment for
a more liberal immigration policy has been building in the aftermath of last
year’s election. But Mr. Paul’s comments provided strong new evidence that the
rising generation of conservative leaders is turning against the Republican
argument that those who enter the country illegally should be denied the chance
to become permanent residents.
“Prudence, compassion
and thrift all point us toward the same goal: bringing these workers out of the
shadows and into becoming and being taxpaying members of society,” Mr. Paul
said in a speech before the United States
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
The remarks are a
departure for Mr. Paul, who as a Senate candidate in 2010 called for an
electronic fence and helicopter stations to help secure the border with Mexico.
His new message follows the publication on Monday of a blistering report from
the Republican National Committee that urged the party’s members to champion an
immigration overhaul that Hispanics can embrace or risk seeing the party
shrinking “to its core constituencies only.”
The report left vague,
however, just what that “comprehensive” overhaul would include.
Mr. Paul joins Senator
Marco Rubio of Florida in a growing list of leading conservatives to urge a new
approach on immigration. Mr. Rubio is part of a bipartisan group of eight
senators who are working to create an immigration overhaul that can earn
support from both parties.
Some Republicans,
including Mr. Paul, remain wary of any plan that would move illegal immigrants
ahead of those who are in the country legally when it comes to getting full
citizenship.
That view is particularly
strong in the House, where Speaker John A. Boehner on Tuesday dodged the
question of whether a separate, bipartisan group in his chamber working on
immigration legislation would back a path to citizenship. But the House plan is
expected to include some way for illegal immigrants to gain legal status.
Senator Jeff Sessions,
Republican of Alabama, released a letter on Tuesday urging the Senate Judiciary
Committee to move slowly, explaining to a group of reporters that there is no
“moral or legal responsibility to reward somebody who entered the country
illegally.”
But the new political
landscape in Washington contrasts sharply with just a few years ago, when most
Republicans derided the idea of legalized status for illegal immigrants as a
form of amnesty that would simply encourage more people to cross the border
illegally.
The overall shift in
sentiment means that four months after Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican
presidential nominee, made “self-deportation” the party’s official position on
immigration — and lost decisively to President Obama, especially among Hispanic
voters — top party strategists and lawmakers of all ideological stripes are
racing to change course.
“Now, you have the
standard-bearer of the Tea Party saying that we should welcome undocumented
immigrants as Americans,” said Frank Sharry, executive director ofAmerica’s Voice, a pro-immigration group.
“It’s one of the fastest turnarounds I’ve seen on any issue. It’s
mind-blowing.”
Bob Dane, a spokesman
for the Federation for American Immigration
Reform, which opposes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants,
conceded Tuesday that “it certainly appears to be settled if one assumes that
the inside Republican elite strategists represent the core of the Republican Party.”
But it remains to be
seen how Republican voters and conservative activists across the country will
respond to proposals that allow illegal immigrants to live in America and
compete legally for jobs. Mr. Dane’s group is meeting with 52 talk radio hosts
in Washington next month for a two-day session intended to bolster opposition
to the idea.
“Amnesty is that which
rewards lawbreaking,” Mr. Dane said. “An amnesty bill is going to split the
party. Workers are going to go crazy.”
The fact that Mr. Paul
never used the word “citizenship” in his nearly 18-minute speech on Tuesday
reflects the narrow line that many Republicans appear to be walking in
supporting a major immigration overhaul.
When initial reports
about Mr. Paul’s speech suggested that he was backing full citizenship for
illegal immigrants, his staff quickly corrected the record, saying that he
supports “a quicker path to normalization, not citizenship.”
But the political
climate has moderated, and many Republicans are being forced to accept, if not
outright embrace, some form of legalization for the illegal immigrants already
in the country.
“I think they’ve found
themselves on the road to Damascus, or they understand that this issue is very,
very important,” said Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who is part
of the bipartisan group in the Senate working on immigration legislation.
Senator Lindsey Graham,
Republican of South Carolina and another member of the Senate group of eight,
put it more bluntly: “I just think the 2012 election was a bit of a wake-up
call.”
The group of eight
senators is finalizing a provision that would allow the 11 million illegal
immigrants to reach full citizenship in 13 years — with a 10-year wait for a
green card and 3 more years until citizenship.
No formal immigration
legislative proposal currently exists, and members of Congress have yet to
really sell their constituents on a pathway to legalization or citizenship.
Lawmakers, aides and immigration advocates say that the citizenship component
will be the largest obstacle to gathering support for a final bill,
particularly among the conservative base.
Mr. Boehner, referring
to the bipartisan group in the House working on immigration legislation,
described it as “essentially” ready.
“This is just the
beginning of the process,” he said. “There’s a lot ofeducation to be done.”
Though the House group,
like the one in the Senate, has yet to release its legislation, Representative
Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat, said Tuesday that the
group would announce it “in the near term” and that it would include a path to
citizenship. Democrats in the group say they would refuse to sign on to any
plan that does not include an eventual path to citizenship.
The Senate group is aiming
to release its proposals in the second week of April, after lawmakers return
from Easter break. A week later, as part of Mr. Dane’s event, activists,
sheriffs, cattle ranchers and others will fan out across Capitol Hill to lobby
against the legislation.
Their message, he said,
is aimed directly at lawmakers like Mr. Paul: “Forget about politics. Forget
about trying to win voters. Stand on principles.”