Flip Flop, Flip Flop.

Bush Wants Newcomers to Know English (no he doesn't/yes he does)

Immigration issue is dividing Republican Party

May 20, 2006

The Hispanic outcry against the House immigration reform bill caught Washington Republicans off guard, Nevada Rep. Jon Porter's chief of staff said Friday.

"I don't think anyone at the time anticipated that either side would have necessarily tried to bring this to the emotional level that it has taken," Mike Hesse said. "This is like a pressure cooker that's been building up for years."

The comment illustrates that immigration has become a divisive issue for Republicans in Nevada and nationwide, causing a rift perhaps unparalleled since anti-abortion forces won the abortion wars more than two decades ago and came to dominate the party.

This week, President Bush tried to stake out a "rational middle ground" in the immigration debate, calling for stronger border control and measures to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants, while also creating a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for people in the United States illegally.

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