AUSTIN, Texas — When young Texas conservatives announced a “catch an illegal immigrant” game, they expected condemnation from the left. But the surprise came when fellow Texas Republicans either denounced them or remained conspicuously silent.

Perhaps no incident better crystalizes how the state GOP is trying to mitigate its immigration policies to win Hispanic votes and keep the party vital. The dilemma couldn’t have been clearer last week when several 2014 Republican candidates campaigned for votes in the Young Conservatives of Texas online straw poll while trying to distance themselves from the game sponsored by the group’s University of Texas at Austin chapter.

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