Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — one of the Republican co-sponsors of an immigration reform bill that would provide a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11.1 million undocumented immigrations — told fellow Republicans that the GOP will fail to exist if reform does not become law.
“If we don’t pass immigration reform , if we don’t get it off the table in a reasonable, practical way, it doesn’t matter who you run in 2016,” Graham warned during on appearance Sunday on NBC’s Meet The Press. “We’re in a demographic death spiral as a party, and the only way we can get back in good graces with the Hispanic community, in my view, is pass comprehensive immigration reform. If you don’t do that, it really doesn’t matter who will run, in my view.” Watch it:
Mitt Romney received just 27 percent of the Hispanic vote during the 2012 presidential election, down from Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) 31 percent in 2008 and George W. Bush’s 44 percent in 2004. And while several GOP-sponsored autopsy reports have urged the party to adopt a more welcoming tone toward immigrants, conservatives are still comparing immigrants to bankrobbers, while voting to deport DREAM-eligible immigrants.
During a separate appearance on ABC’s This Week, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who also helped draft the Senate’s immigration reform measure and may run for president in 2016, would not commit to voting for his own bill.