Congress Making It Hard for GOP to Recruit Hispanics

USA Today

By Alan Gomez

February 11, 2015

Congress making it hard for GOP to recruit Hispanics

In its first month in power, the new Republican majority in Congress has created a challenge for a group of people critical to the party's success in the 2016 elections: GOP operatives in charge of attracting Hispanic voters.

Party leaders have been trying to get members to soften their harsh tone on undocumented immigrants and engage in a more nuanced conversation with Hispanic on issues like the economy, health care and education.

But since taking over both chambers in January, congressional leaders have elevated some of its most outspoken critics of immigration to positions of power; repeatedly tried to shut down President Obama's plan to protect up to 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation; and introduced bills focused mostly on border security.

"It makes our job very difficult," said Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the conservative American Principles Project's Latino Partnership. "We're swimming against the current."

For many Republican Party leaders, the 2012 election served as a wake-up call to adjust its approach to the growing Hispanic electorate. Mitt Romney endorsed a policy of "self-deportation" for undocumented immigrants and that led to him receiving just 27% of the Hispanic vote.

The Republican National Committee's post-election autopsy report concluded that the party needed to improve its policies and its tone when dealing with immigration legislation and Hispanics in general.

In prior elections, Hispanic outreach efforts geared up a few months before Election Day, but then shut down immediately afterward. Following the 2014 midterm elections, the Republican National Committee maintained about 40 staff members dedicated to Hispanic outreach. The LIBRE Initiative, a group that advocates for conservative principles, did voter outreach in seven Hispanic-heavy states in 2014 and is using about 50 staff members to expand to two more states this year.

"We're in a better position than I've ever seen," said Jennifer Korn, national field director for Hispanic initiatives at the RNC. "This year allows us to really go into a community and not just pitch a candidate, but gives us time to talk to voters about specific issues. It lets us get to know the community in a more intimate way."

But while Korn and other GOP operatives are trying to explain their conservative ideals to Hispanic voters and connect with them on areas like the economy, Republican leaders in Congress have been going in a different direction.

When Republicans assumed control of the Senate last month, its leadership appointed Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. — one of the most outspoken critics of undocumented immigrants and any bill that would grant them legal status — to head its immigration subcommittee. In the House, the immigration subcommittee includes Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who once said undocumented immigrants had calves the size of cantaloupes because of all the drugs they were hauling from Mexico.

"Steve King may not be the best person to do our Hispanic outreach," said Sarah Isgur Flores, a long-time Republican campaigner who has worked for Romney, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and is now working for Carly Fiorina's super PAC as she explores a presidential run. "Steve King's policies aren't vastly different from many Republicans, including some Hispanics. But tone does matter."

The House passed a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that would block Obama's action to protect up to 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and to rescind protections his administration has already given to more than 600,000 young undocumented immigrants. The Senate unsuccessfully tried three times last week to pass that bill, which needs to be completed before funding for the department runs out at the end of the month.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it is up to the House to create a bill the Senate can pass.

The main immigration bill proposed so far by Republicans is one sponsored by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, to add $10 billion in manpower and equipment to lock down the southwest border with Mexico.

"Republicans better offer up solutions other than just border security," said Daniel Garza, LIBRE's executive director. "The Latino electorate, and all Americans, expect that. We're not seeing it, and we better see it."

Jose Mallea, the Miami-based national strategic director for LIBRE, said their day-to-day conversations with Hispanics will grow increasingly uncomfortable if Republicans in Congress don't propose a comprehensive immigration bill that tackles all the problems with the country's immigration system, including a solution for the nation's 12 million undocumented immigrants.

"It's very frustrating for us to not be able to give them a definitive answer on that," Mallea said. "We would love to be able to say, 'We think it's going to happen.' Clearly at some point, people will grow frustrated if nothing happens."

Some in the party say Congress will fall to the background as the presidential race comes into sharper focus. With potential candidates like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker all delivering a softer approach to immigration, GOP officials feel voters will turn their attention to them as the election draws closer.

"It's going to be a tough conversation to have. But I don't think Congress will dictate the fate of what happens when it comes to attracting new Hispanic voters," said Izzy Santa, a former RNC director of Hispanic media. "When people think of 2016, they think of the candidate."

As Congress continues focusing on ways to crack down on illegal immigration, others in the party aren't so optimistic that Hispanics will be able to look the other way.

"Hispanic media tends to be immigration-centric," Aguilar said. "That's what they see every day. And right now, the narrative is very simple — Democrats are good, Republican are bad.

"How do you beat that?

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