No doubt, the status quo makes it easier for Democrats to portray Republicans as anti-Hispanic and is a barrier to Republicans winning over this fast-growing demographic. On the other hand, Democrats will portray Republicans as anti-Hispanic no matter what, and the immigration bill, should it become law, would almost certainly create more Democratic voters than Republican ones. A Pew poll published last year found that while Hispanics are more pro-life than the national average, they’re more likely to identify as liberal than the general public. Also, when asked for a preference between a bigger government with more services or a smaller government with fewer services, 41 percent of the country as a whole favored bigger government, but 75 percent of Hispanics did. Among first generation Hispanics, 81 percent favored bigger government — or roughly double the national average, compared with just 12 percent who favored smaller government.

When it comes to the politics of immigration, Republicans are screwed either way. So they may as well ignore the politics and vote for their preferred policy outcomes.