Why GOP Doesn't Want To Even Discuss Immigration

The United States is a nation of immigrants. Everyone in this country has ancestors that came from some other part of the world -- even the Native Americans (whose ancestors just got here a few thousand years before the rest of our ancestors). And in spite of our ridiculous current immigration laws, immigrants continue to come to this country -- many without permission or the necessary paperwork. The best guess is that there are about 11 million undocumented immigrants in America.

There is little doubt that immigration reform is badly needed. And President Obama would like to deliver on that needed reform. Yesterday he went to El Paso and kicked off his push for immigration reform, but he knows this is not going to be popular with the Republicans in Congress.

The president said, "We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. But even though we've answered these concerns, I gotta say I suspect there are still going to be some who are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time. Maybe they'll need a moat. Maybe they'll want alligators in the moat. . .The question is whether those in Congress who previously walked away in the name of enforcement are now ready to come back to the table and finish the work we've started."

Of course he right. The Republicans will once again move the goal posts -- even with a wall, a moat, and alligators. Whatever is done will never be enough for them. It won't be enough because they not only don't want immigration reform -- they don't even want to have to debate it in public.

The Republicans don't want to bring up the subject of immigration reform because they know it'll split their party in two. There are two powerful groups in the party and those groups hold opposing opinions of immigration. And frankly, congressional Republicans are afraid to anger either group. The two groups are the teabaggers and the business community.

The teabaggers are virulently anti-immigrant. They seem to be convinced that these undocumented workers are taking jobs away from good white Republicans (even though no one seems to want the low-paid, no-benefit, and sometimes dangerous jobs these immigrants are doing). This group would like to round up those 11 million people (a physical impossibility) and deport them all. They are absolutely opposed to giving them a legal way to stay in the country (or a path to citizenship).

The business community sees things a bit differently. They view these undocumented workers as a source of cheap labor (and they don't mind selling them their goods and services either). If the undocumented workers are deported or somehow prevented from working in this country, these businessmen/women are afraid their labor costs would rise sharply (and they could be right about this). They also would have to do without the money these immigrants spend. The teabagger solution would be a nightmare for the business community.

The problem facing congressional Republican is that both of these groups have significant power within the party. The business community controls the party purse strings. They supply the huge majority of campaign donations for Republican candidates. If they anger this group they could find themselves without the funds needed to win a general election (and they would destroy any chance of a significant amount of Hispanic votes).

The teabaggers have the power of votes. They control who can win in a Republican primary (even though that power diminishes significantly in a general election). If they anger this group they might not survive to get to the general election.

That is why the Republicans would just like to see this issue go away. They simply cannot afford to come down on either side of the issue. So they will talk tough and kill any attempt at reform -- just like they did in the last session of Congress. The tough talk will keep the teabaggers happy, and as long as no changes are made the business community won't mind the tough talk.

I would like to see immigration reform, but I don't think it'll happen. The congressional Republicans will kill it to save their own jobs. The status quo may be a mess, but it's better for the congressional Republicans than any kind of reform.