WASHINGTON — In the renewed controversy over illegal immigration, old choices are resurfacing for California Republicans.
Responding to rising demands from local and national conservative activists, GOP House members from the state are enlisting behind a tough measure to crack down on illegal immigrants that the chamber began debating Thursday.
But this legislation could present the party with the same risky political equation it faced in 1994, when then-Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican, promoted Proposition 187 to bar illegal immigrants from most public services in California, including schooling. Though support for the proposition helped Wilson win reelection, most analysts agree that a backlash against it helped tilt the state toward the Democrats by increasing turnout among Latinos -- and souring those voters on GOP candidates.
Now, state Republicans find themselves on a similar tightrope as they try to satisfy activists urging tougher measures against illegal immigrants without again alienating Latino voters, who have only recently shown signs of reconsidering the GOP.
"There is plenty of danger on all sides," says John J. Pitney Jr., a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College. "On the one hand, there really is strong concern at the grass roots about stopping illegal immigration.... On the other hand, California Republicans can count: They know that the Latino vote is growing, and a lot of them need a chunk of that vote."
Even some leading California Republicans argue that the party must move carefully as it fashions its immigration agenda. Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas), chairman of the House Rules Committee, said the GOP must make clear that "this is not a Mexico-bashing issue. This is an issue of dealing with our security and the problems that have been created with illegal immigration."
But sending such a nuanced message may not be easy at a time when those most critical of immigration are clearly rising within conservative circles. The legislation the House began considering Thursday bristles with tough-minded proposals such as designating all illegal immigrants, for the first time, as felons.
A coalition of Republican immigration skeptics led by Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) is pushing even tougher measures, including a provision to end automatic citizenship for the children born to illegal immigrants in America, though it is not clear the House leadership would allow votes on all their proposals this week.
