Why is it that Republican politicians in Nevada can’t learn from recent history when it comes to Latino voters and the politics of immigration? In a key development for one of the 2012 cycle’s most prominent Senate battleground races, Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) used the occasion of a meeting with Hispanic community leaders last Friday to reiterate his opposition to the DREAM Act and birthright citizenship.

As the Republican race for the party’s presidential nomination begins and the 2012 cycle kicks off in earnest, the Party’s stance on immigration and ability to compete for Latino voters will be a major storyline. In this report, America’s Voice provides a review of GOP presidential candidate positions on immigration, finding that the field tilts hard in the anti-immigrant direction. We follow the candidate profiles with analysis of the Party’s lurch to the right on immigration in recent years, and provide four lessons for the Republican Party when it comes to Latino voters, immigration, and its potential significance for 2012 and beyond.

On a press call today, experts on Latino voters, the politics of immigration, and the DREAM Act highlighted how Mitt Romney's recent pledge to veto the DREAM Act will imperil his chances in the general election. Romney's comments sit right at home with the GOP field, which has continued to stick to a strategy of tacking to the hard right on immigration throughout the primary season. However, as speakers discussed today, findings from an updated America's Voice report suggest that this strategy only serves to threaten the GOP's chances in the general election.

Washington, DC – Last week, Mitt Romney offered a fresh reminder that his pandering to the far right on immigration during the primary season will hurt his potential general election chances. In response to a question in Le Mars, IA, Romney pledged that he would veto a federal DREAM Act if the legislation passed Congress while he was President. His comments were widely reported in Spanish media and put the nail in the coffin of any hope Romney may have had of competing for Latino voters in the general election.

The DREAM Act is a bill that would provide a pathway to citizenship for young students who have lived in the U.S. nearly their whole lives, who were brought here through no fault of their own. It would help educate the next generation of Americans, would generate tax dollars from improved wages, and would spur enlistment in the Armed Forces. The DREAM Act makes so much sense that even conservatives have supported it -- here's what they've had to say.

The Obama Administration’s announcement that it will bring its deportation practices in line with common sense law enforcement priorities has generated overwhelmingly positive reactions from editorial boards across the nation. They are lauding this step as sensible, humane, and smart law enforcement policy—and reminding Congress that it needs to do its job and pass comprehensive immigration reform.

Below is a statement from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice Education Fund, on today’s announcement from the Obama Administration about bringing deportation practices in line with enforcement priorities.

In a closely-watched speech at the NCLR conference, President Obama reiterated his support for comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act, and then proceeded to say that because of the way our government works, he could not simply take matters into his own hands and act unilaterally. In a remarkable and spontaneous response, the audience began chanting, “Yes You Can! Yes You Can!”

Tomorrow, Assistant Senate Majority Leader U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) will chair the first-ever U.S. Senate hearing on the DREAM Act before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security. The DREAM Act, first introduced in 2001 by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), is a common sense proposal that offers talented young people who came to the United States as minors a chance to earn legal status and a path to citizenship – if they meet a set of stringent criteria and attend college or enroll in the U.S. military.

Only a week after Florida Hispanics rose-up to defeat an Arizona-like immigration bill in the Florida legislature, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has decided to cast aside the large Florida Hispanic community in favor of the national GOP anti-immigrant platform. Rubio told Telemundo that he would vote against the DREAM Act, which has been introduced on a bi-partisan basis in Congress, notably championed by Florida’s own Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL).

Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Majority Leader Harry Reid and 31 of their Senate colleagues, in addition to Reps. Howard Berman (D-CA) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) introduced the DREAM Act in the U.S. Congress. For the 11th year, this bipartisan legislation offers talented young people, Americans in all but paperwork, an opportunity to fully contribute to the country they call home.