A Texas-sized silence as immigration talks ramp up

Yet so far, Gov. Rick Perry and Republicans who control the Legislature have been sitting this debate out.

They're not resurrecting dozens of contentious immigration bills that roiled the statehouse in 2011. They're not making the rounds on TV and radio to talk about President Barack Obama's plan for legalizing immigrants. They're not even saying the word "immigration."

When Perry delivered his State of the State recently — his first since his failed presidential run — glaringly absent in the 37-minute speech was any mention of the issue at all.

The silence speaks to the sudden political shift in immigration since last fall's presidential election, in which Hispanics voted Democratic by a nearly 3-to-1 margin and created a powerful incentive for Republicans to change their approach to this growing ethnic group.

In Congress, Republicans have softened their opposition to accommodating immigrants, and a bipartisan group of Senate negotiators unveiled a bill framework that includes a pathway to citizenship for those already in the U.S. so long as border security is beefed up.

But in Texas, the party has been left speechless in the Capitol. GOP leaders find themselves caught between traditional supporters, who feel swamped by illegal immigrants and want tough action, and a surging Hispanic population. Minorities accounted for nearly nine out of every 10 new Texas residents in the past decade, and the demographic shift could soon transform the politics in a state where Democrats haven't won a statewide office since 1994.

"There's not nearly as much energy around it as there was," says Republican state Rep. John Zerwas, acknowledging the collapse of hard-line immigration proposals such as his to require state agencies to compile the costs related to illegal immigrants. "I think you're seeing that at the national level, and probably a good bit of that is trickling down to the state level."

Similar pivots are under way in other Republican statehouses, but perhaps nowhere is the change more evident than in Texas because of how much rhetoric the issue has traditionally received here.

Texas Republicans regularly used illegal immigration as a campaign cudgel against Democrats like Obama and as a rallying point for fed-up conservatives while trying to reach out to legal Hispanic residents as the party best aligned with their values.

Only two years ago in his State of the State address, Perry called for punishing "sanctuary cities" that bar police officers from asking detainees about their immigration status.

There's no talk of such measures now.

"You want an answer? That tried and that failed," said Texas Republican Party Chairman Steve Munisteri. "Responsible leadership is now focusing on things that have a chance to get passed."