What does the GOP hope to achieve politically? And why does anyone think the GOP is going to be necessary for future changes in immigration policy?
The answer to my first question is that GOP plans or concessions regarding immigration policy will gain nothing for the GOP. Regardless of how the math is done, even with best case scenarios, present immigration policies and policies regarding illegal immigration are a lose/lose game for the Republican Party. Unless reform dramatically alters present immigration policy, nothing will be gained. Everything on the table furthers immigration policy philosophy since the 70s.
The answer to my next question is that the past election determined what immigration policies and reforms are going to be. We will have amnesty and we will have de facto open borders. A fast track to citizenship is going to happen. Come one, come all, and take what you can is the new immigration policy. None of it is going to require the participation of Republicans. It will all be done through agency rules or through Congressional concessions that won’t do a thing to improve the GOP’s standing with new voters or minorities.
Suicide
“Don’t fight a battle if you don’t gain anything by winning.”
Erwin Rommel