Effort to change immigration law sparks internal battle within GOP

[Draggingtree]

The Washington Post.:

Effort to change immigration law sparks internal battle within GOP

By Peter Wallsten,

 

Feb 14, 2013 03:57 AM EST

The Washington Post Published: February 13

 

 

A new battle has flared inside the Republican Party in recent days as supporters of more-liberal immigration laws wage a behind-the-scenes campaign to discredit the influential advocacy groups that have long powered the GOP’s hard-line stance on the issue.

 

Now, Republicans pushing the party to rethink its approach to the issue are accusing those groups — Numbers USA, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) — of masquerading as conservative. Critics say the groups and some of their supporters are pressing an un­or­tho­dox agenda of strict population control that also has included backing for abortion, sterilization and other policies at odds with conservative ideology.