Will The GOP Do Anything About Immigration?

As Republican leaders prepare to circulate a new “statement of principles” on immigration reform later this week, Sargent proposes a litmus test:

Here’s the question: What will Republicans demand as a condition for legalization?

If their basic principle is that legalization will be contingent on undocumented immigrants paying back taxes and a fine, and on the Department of Homeland Security producing a border security plan (as in the Senate bill), that could be a real stepping stone to negotiations and possibly even something approximating comprehensive reform.

But if their basic principle is that legalization will only happen after various border security metrics being met — such as E-Verify being fully operational, or proof that 90 percent of border crossers must be being apprehended and 100 percent of the border must be being surveilled — then that’s going to be a very discouraging sign.

Allie Jones doubts anything will come of it:

Democrats and Republicans may be able to find some middle ground with the Republicans’ new plan. While the Democrat-backed Senate bill includes a path to citizenship for children and adults who came into the country illegally, the Republican plan, which is really just a “statement of principles,” provides a path to citizenship for Dreamers only. This could possibly allay Republican fears that embracing immigration reform means handing Democrats 11 million new voters. Under the Republican plan, undocumented adults would be still be offered a path to “legal status.”

Still, the likelihood that the GOP comes to full agreement and puts this plan in action before November is slim.

The fact that the party can’t come to any consensus on the issue makes Byron York skeptical:

House Republicans are likely to remain deeply divided over legalization. And their divisions simply reflect larger divisions within the conservative world.

The Wall Street Journal editorial page is solidly pro-reform. National Review is solidly against it. The Weekly Standard is split, with editor William Kristol advising Republicans “don’t even try” to pass reform this year, and executive editor Fred Barnes praising McCarthy’s decision to support legalization as a blow against the “nativist axis” and a “brave step for his party and America.”