Zagg
small el libertarian
The last two governors of Texas have been pretty dovish on immigration.
Is this the stance of Texas Republicans in general?
All that I know it is. They , like the democrats think they have a huge block of potential voters to exploit.
I think there's more to it than that.
I think this is one of those issues that the GOP plays to get people riled up, but they have no real interest in solving.
Who benefits from illegal immigrant labor? Companies that hire them, mostly. And who do business types, corporations, etc support? The GOP.
So the GOP doesn't really want to solve this problem. The easiest way would be to go after the employers instead of the illegals. Make the penalty for hiring one far worse than the benefits.
It's kind of like them putting the abortion plank in the platform every year, and abortion is just as legal today as it was in 1973. Or supporting anti-gay marriage laws, but slowly but surely, it becomes legal in more places.
Generally good answer, but I think your last sentence is off. Most Republicans do oppose abortion and gay marriage. They just don't have the votes to do anything about them at a national level yet. But most Republicans, at least mainstream Republicans, do support illegal immigration. But the leadership have to whine about it some to keep their populist wing, which does oppose it, happy.