The Republican Party's hidden progress on immigration reform

It’s tempting to conclude that the “summer of Trump,” the recent debate on birthright citizenship and the GOP’s calls to defund sanctuary cities are signs that the Republican Party continues to remain hostile towards immigrants — especially undocumented immigrants.

What has gone mostly unnoticed (or at least unreported) is that a majority of Republican presidential candidates — now eight in total — support earned legal status for some part of the undocumented population. Moreover, 66% of Republican voters now agree. That’s a ten percentage point increase in support since May. These developments suggest an under-the-radar evolution in the GOP attitude toward undocumented immigration.