Thirteen years after a ballot measure against illegal immigration fractured the state Republican Party, the issue again is front and center in California's upcoming presidential primary.
Moderates who have argued that an unyielding stance against illegal immigration would further erode the party's strength in this increasing polyglot state have effectively been silenced by GOP forces calling for a hard-line crackdown.
The escalating rhetoric in the GOP presidential primary has fed their retreat.
So, too, has a striking increase in the number of Californians who blame illegal immigration for the state's problems.
"There is more unity among Republicans in this state on illegal immigration than on anything else, including taxes," said Tom Hudson, chairman of the Republican Party in Placer County, near Sacramento, one of the most conservative counties in the state.
Among the GOP candidates, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has seized the issue with vigor, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado has made border security the centerpiece of his long-shot campaign, even airing a campaign commercial comparing illegal immigration with terrorism.
In Wednesday's GOP debate, Romney sharply criticized Rudolph W. Giuliani for providing "sanctuary" to illegal immigrants while mayor of New York City. Giuliani responded by accusing Romney of hiring illegal immigrants to work at his home. Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee chided Romney and Giuliani as recent converts on the topic.
The issue packs some familiar political baggage for the state Republican Party, which still feels the aftershocks of Proposition 187, the landmark 1994 voter initiative to cut off services to illegal immigrants.
The measure was approved by California voters before being tossed out by the courts. But Republican Gov. Pete Wilson's championing of it turned many Latino voters, other ethnic groups and some moderate white voters against the party.
The alienation of Latinos, the fastest-growing group in the state, has been the source of worry in GOP circles ever since, particularly as the party's share of the vote has ebbed. Republicans now make up less than 34% of the electorate, far outnumbered by Democrats and the independent voters who typically side with them.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other Republicans have made efforts to change the party's image on illegal immigration. But GOP operatives said those moves lost ground last year after the stinging repudiation of President Bush's comprehensive immigration reform, which opponents attacked as weak-kneed amnesty.
