Immigration case could hurt Republican outreach to U.S. Hispanics

*The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the Obama executive actions on immigration case could be a Catch-22 for the GOP. The case involves the Republican’s attempt to stall or a null the president’s action that would remove the threat of deportation from 4 million unauthorized immigrants. The case should be heard in April, and a decision is expected in June. The timing is not good for Republicans because it would come weeks before their big national convention. If they win the appeal they’ll celebrate among themselves, but appear as anti-immigtant hardliners to Latino voters. If they lose, the shadow of their attempt to block the president’s action will loom over their convention spotlight. All this from a party that says it needs to attract Latinos in order to win in November. VL

By James Oliphant, Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For a Republican Party trying to woo Hispanic voters, the timing of the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of the legality of President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration could not come at a more awkward time.

The case, which will consider whether Obama exceeded his constitutional authority to spare from deportation millions of immigrants in the country illegally, is set to be argued in the coming months with a decision due by the end of June.

That would land the issue squarely in the middle of the U.S. presidential race, just weeks before Republicans gather for their convention to choose a nominee in November’s election.

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