Far from chasing away Hispanic voters, Republicans believe their focus on stiffer border security will win over more of the coveted voting demographic, building on inroads the GOP has made in recent years.
Republicans also rejected accusations that wanting a less chaotic border makes them “anti-immigrant.”
“We’re not pursuing hardline immigration. We’re pushing hardline border security,” Rep. Carlos Gimenez, Florida Republican, said. “Those are two different subjects, and by the way, I think most Hispanics in this country want a secure border.”
It was a message Republicans carried into last year’s elections and, despite an overall sluggish performance, it wasn’t for lack of support among Hispanics.
Fox News’ election voter poll showed Republican House candidates won 39% of Hispanic support nationwide in last year’s congressional elections, up from 32% in the 2018 midterm elections.
CNN’s exit polling showed similar growth: Hispanic support for the GOP went from 29% in 2018 to 39% in 2022.
Those numbers shocked immigrant rights advocates, who had warned Republicans they were turning off Hispanic voters by focusing heavily on immigration in their campaign attacks on President Biden.
Now, with Republicans having control of the House, advocates say the GOP has the burden to go beyond carping at the president and to produce solutions.
Early efforts have produced friction.
Texas Rep. Chip Roy’s proposal to allow a shutdown of the border until Homeland Security can guarantee it can detail or deport all illegal border crossers has run into trouble with some fellow Republicans.
Rep. Tony Gonzales, Texas Republican, said that sort of legislation will hurt the GOP politically, especially among Hispanics, and could cost them the House majority next year.
“I have some deep issues with that bill. A bill that bans asylum is not good for anyone and it certainly doesn’t help the border crisis at all,” said Mr. Gonzales, who represents a large border district. “This bill doesn’t talk about border security. It talks about immigration.”
Mr. Roy says his bill would still allow asylum claims but would prevent those migrants from being released into the U.S. unless they win their cases.
His legislation was supposed to be one of the first votes this year, but the internal strife has derailed those plans.
With no bill ready for action, House Republicans have instead focused on hearings to expose the ongoing chaos at the border, where record numbers of illegal immigrants, fentanyl trafficking and terrorism suspects have all been recorded on Mr. Biden’s watch.
One hearing, in the Judiciary Committee, featured an Arizona sheriff describing the chaos that has spread during the Biden administration. The other, in the Oversight and Accountability Committee, featured two senior Border Patrol officials who described how the violent smuggling cartels have grown more emboldened in the last couple of years.
And Speaker Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, made a high-profile visit to the southern border on Thursday.
Immigration advocates labeled the hearings a product of “White nationalist” conspiracy theories.
“Instead of using their majority to bring forth thoughtful ideas on how to address the complex problem of global migration and the root causes that force people to leave their home countries, the GOP is engaging in white nationalist rhetoric and political theater,” Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of America’s Voice, told reporters earlier this month in previewing Republicans’ early moves.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the oversight committee, echoed those complaints and accused the GOP of forgetting its roots.
“The MAGA forces in the GOP have chosen to abandon the strong pro-immigration stance of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan and instead spread fear about a foreign invasion, dangerous paranoia about the racist and antisemitic ’Great Replacement’ mythology and disinformation about fentanyl,” the Maryland lawmaker said.
Rep. Richard Hudson, a North Carolina Republican who leads the House GOP campaign arm, said it’s Democrats who risk problems with Hispanic voters if they don’t take border security more seriously.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.