Amnesty won't magically make Latinos more Republican

A better question: Is this finding religion or falling for an old Beltway superstition? The boosters of amnesty in exchange for the elusive Hispanic vote may be the witch doctors of American politics. …

But caving on bad legislation — or writing watered-down Republican alternatives — to address this unfortunate misconception is the easy way out.

For starters, immigration is far from the Republicans’ only problem with Hispanic voters. Proposition 187, California’s notorious 1994 anti-illegal immigration ballot initiative that supposedly lost Latinos for the GOP forever, received a higher percentage of the Hispanic vote than many Republican candidates.

Hispanics have a high labor force participation rate, but are nevertheless disproportionately poor. In 2011, more than 40 percent of Hispanics reported that they lacked health insurance, which makes Obamacare potentially appealing. …