The current Republican primary campaign has made conservatives’ hostility to immigrants—and to any policies that might help immigrants—crystal clear. Indeed, conservative candidates are seeking to outdo one another in loudly proclaiming their opposition to any and all pro-immigrant policies. This suggests conservatives are going to have a great deal of trouble attracting Hispanic support in the presidential election this November.
Consider these results from a recent Pew Hispanic Center poll. In that poll Hispanics favored the DREAM Act—which would allow illegal immigrants’ children, who were brought by their parents to the United States, to attain citizenship if they go to college or serve in the U.S. military for two years—by a staggering 91-7. Conservatives, however, strenuously oppose such a provision.
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