Latino, 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.

Vice President Joe Biden railed Tuesday against the GOP's hard-line stance on immigration in a speech warning Latino voters of the consequences if they "sit on your hands" in the coming elections.

The coalition's efforts were part of a larger get-out-the vote campaign by Latino organizations across the country. Some Latino activists have warned that they planned to sit out the election because of frustration over a lack of progress on comprehensive immigration reform by the Obama administration.

President Obama appealed to Hispanics on Wednesday to support Democrats in the November elections despite his failed promise to pass an immigration overhaul.