Immigration reform could spell doom for the GOP -- By Byron York, The Washington Examiner

The recent Senate debate over immigration reform focused mostly on three issues: 1) the economic effects of legalizing millions of currently illegal immigrants while also increasing the rate of future immigration, 2) the possibility of achieving real border security and 3) the ethical question of offering the reward of citizenship to those who entered the country illegally.

Beneath it all was another factor, never far from lawmakers' minds, but much less discussed: the electoral effects of reform. Yes, there was a lot of talk about the Republican Party's need to improve its Image with Hispanic voters. But the real political issue underlying the debate went far beyond that. Everyone knew the far-reaching Gang of Eight reform proposal passed by the Senate would reshape the American electorate. And now, a new report suggests just how extensive that reshaping could be.

"Based on projections published by the Congressional Budget Office, we estimate that if [the Gang of Eight bill] were to become law it will add more than 17 million new potential voting-age citizens by 2036," writes scholar Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, which opposes the Gang of Eight reform. "These potential voters are in addition to the nearly 15 million that the current level of legal immigration will add by 2036. Combined, current immigration plus the effects of [the Gang of Eight bill] would add more than 32 million potential new voting-age citizens by 2036."

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