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Polls show that immigration is the number one issue for Republicans
in the 2008 election; but it may not help them very much in Nevada,
which for the first time, will be holding its presidential caucuses
in mid-January, shortly after citizens in Iowa and New Hampshire
vote.
Depending on whom you ask, Hispanics make up anywhere from 24
to 30 percent of the population in Nevada. They come from Mexico
and Central and South America, drawn to Las Vegas and the surrounding
areas by the need for people to fill jobs -- especially in construction,
landscaping and hospitality -- landing them work in casinos and
hotels.
 Latinos
make up 43 percent of the Culinary Workers Union, the powerful
labor organization that represents casino, hotel and restaurant
workers in this tourist-dependent city. They are by far the largest
minority group, most of them resident aliens with legal documentation,
but a percentage are undocumented and in the United States illegally.
Legal and illegal, they, along with immigrants from Asia and Eastern
Europe, are the fuel that powers the economy here -- and the largest
factor behind the absence of a debate over immigration.
Since I arrived in Las Vegas Sunday afternoon, I have not met
one person who openly favors cracking down on the illegal immigrant
population. We know there are people around who have that view;
we read their quotes in news stories. And we know many who feel
this way live outside Las Vegas, upstate in the so-called "cow
counties," farming and ranching country where many residents
have no use for any immigrants, no matter where they're from.
But spending the week in Las Vegas, we are finding a lopsided
set of views about what should be done with the 11 or 12 million
undocumented individuals known to be in the United States.
Last night, I interviewed
four people with very different perspectives on the Las Vegas
economy: two firm Democrats, one wavering Democrat and a Republican.
The Republican, former Nevada Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt Bono, said
she favors strict enforcement of America's borders, but she also
favors a path to citizenship for all those who are already in
the United States. In her words, "there is just a wide variety
of talent that [is required] to run the hotel and the Las Vegas
strip and all the ancillary businesses to support our major hotel
casinos. So we really are, all of us, are in this together. This
great diversity in the workforce and we need them all."
Her views -- and the views of a number of other Republicans in
and around Las Vegas -- don't square with those of most of the
Republican presidential candidates, or with public opinion polls.
Why? Because in the words of union leaders and others who keep
a close eye on the Nevada economy, it would collapse without immigrants.
One business owner told me the region's economy would grind to
a halt without undocumented workers. The jobs they fill are so
essential to so many businesses in Las Vegas that their immediate
disruption would have wide implications.
Unlike in virtually every other border state, immigrants are in
high demand here and as long as tourists keep coming and spending
money, the jobs will be plentiful. And what divisions there are
on immigration don't fall cleanly along party lines.
Views depend on where people live and what they see of the contributions
made by immigrants. In Nevada, as long as those contributions
continue -- making the hotel beds, landscaping people's yards
and washing dishes -- until a better job comes along, there will
be limits to the amount of support that most leading Republican
presidential candidates can expect, based on their stand on this
issue.
-- By Judy Woodruff, NewsHour
with Jim Lehrer
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