The Hill
Republicans shift gears on immigration ahead of reform debate with Obama
By Mike Lillis
01/25/13 

House Republicans have reshuffled their troops ahead of a high-stakes clash with President Obama over immigration reform, leaving reform advocates with a new glimmer of hope that an elusive resolution to the thorny issue is within grasp this year. 

For years, conservative opponents of comprehensive immigration reform have fought successfully against efforts to overhaul the system, particularly as it pertains to the fate of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. 

Yet even as the GOP conference has shifted to the right, there's a growing chorus of Republicans projecting a softer position on the "amnesty" issue — particularly since the party was walloped by Hispanic voters at the polls in November. And a number of those voices are in new positions of power that put them at the front lines of the coming immigration reform debate. 

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), for instance, is the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Immigration subpanel. While Gowdy has not made immigration a focus of his two years on Capitol Hill — most often toeing the party line without fanfare — he recently rejected the notion that the government should round up and deport the millions of illegal immigrants living in the country. 

"You want them knocking on your front door?" Gowdy told Gannett this month. "You want them going to elementary schools and rounding up the kids?" 

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas), the new vice chairman of the Immigration subcommittee, has also expressed a new openness to reform, announcing his support last month for a guest-worker program that drew immediate fire from conservative groups that consider it amnesty. 

"It’s time for Republicans to take the lead on immigration reform," Poe wrote in a Politico op-ed. 

In another shift, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who is among Congress's most fervent opponents of "amnesty" provisions, lost his leadership spot on the Immigration subcommittee this year, with both Gowdy and Poe moving ahead of him. 

Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of America's Voice, a group that advocates for comprehensive immigration reform, said King's demotion is a clear sign that GOP leaders view his hardline position — and often controversial statements — as a political liability that undermines the party's effort to attract more Hispanic voters. 

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