Immigration advocates are targeting GOP Holdouts in Key Districts

Immigration advocates are swarming parts of the country this month, trying to persuade House Republicans to pass a comprehensive overhaul. Such an effort would not go far at the meeting Representative Andy Harris held recently in this town northeast of Baltimore. 

The overflow crowd, overwhelmingly white and older, booed loudly when one audience member asked Harris to support a path to citizenship for immigrants who are in the country illegally.

Loud applause followed as Harris shot the idea down, calling it ‘‘a nonstarter.’’ 

‘‘The bottom line is there are plenty of immigration laws on the books,’’ Harris said. ‘‘The House is in no rush to take up immigration.’’ 

Harris, a 56-year-old physician and the son of Eastern European immigrants, is in a safe GOP district with few Latino voters, and he is not on target lists drawn up by immigration proponents. So it is no surprise that advocates will not be out in force at his events.

Yet his position is far from unique. 

For all the effort that business and labor groups, activists, and others who support action on immigration say they are pouring into making themselves heard during Congress’s five-week summer recess, there are scores of House Republicans who are hearing very little of the clamor. 

These lawmakers are insulated in safe districts where immigration activists do not bother to venture, or are so hardened in their positions that no one is trying to change their minds. ‘‘Most of the energy is being spent on the folks who are gettable,’’ said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, a proimmigrant group.

[...]

Of the 233 Republicans in the House, 121 are on a list of targets distributed last month by senators who support an immigration overhaul. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio has pledged only to advance immigration legislation supported by a majority of his fellow Republicans, and advocates have identified a potential majority in support.

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