The GOP's resistance to comprehensive immigration reform — including a path to citizenship for the nearly 11 million people now in the country illegally — may be weakening.
There have been three significant developments in the last day:
1. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) backs a path to citizenship.
In a major speech this morning, the Kentucky senator and possible 2016 presidential candidate declared, "If you wish to live and work in America, then we will find a place for you." While Paul is not necessarily a leader of Senate Republicans, his position may give cover to other Republicans who are currently on the fence about the issue.
2. The RNC urged the party to embrace immigration reform.
While the GOP's extensive autopsy of what went wrong during the 2012 elections focused almost entirely on strategy and tactics, the 100-page document also included immigration as its one legislative policy recommendation.
3. The evangelical wing of the party is on board.
The Evangelical Immigration Table, one of the country's most conservative Christian groups, explicitly urged Congress to include "clear steps to citizenship" for illegal immigrants in any reform bill.
David Hawkings notes that the "trio of endorsements should be the final push of support required to overcome the conservative 'citizenship amounts to amnesty' default setting of the past seven years."
There's still a long way to go before an immigration reform bill passes Congress, but the wall standing in its way is quickly crumbling.
Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political websites. He also runs Wonk Wire and the Political Dictionary. Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and COO of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. senator and governor. Goddard is also co-author of You Won — Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including The Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor. Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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