Gop, Illegal Immigration | featured news

California's elected Republicans have long had a simple approach to illegal immigration: Those who broke the law coming here should leave. But the confluence of politics and personal threat have now put many Republican legislators in Washington and Sacramento in a very different place: eager to embrace an overhaul of immigration laws and willing to consider legal status for some of the country's nearly 12 million illegal immigrants, 3 million of whom live in California.

Mitt Romney has had a lot to say about immigration over the past few days, but what he has said adds up to a giant question mark. Rarely has a presidential candidate had as many opportunities to clarify or recalibrate his position on a vital issue, and rarely has a candidate passed up those opportunities as consistently as the former governor.

Newt Gingrich has charged into the fray over illegal immigration, risking conservative ire just as his Republican presidential campaign - once declared all but dead - has vaulted into front-runner status....

Mitt Romney's campaign is reportedly paying for automated calls in Iowa that hit GOP presidential rival Rick Perry on illegal immigration.

Many Republican strategists see recent remarks having a potentially negative impact in swing states with many Hispanic voters.