WASHINGTON (AP) — With President Barack Obama vowing to press ahead on immigration, prominent Hispanic Republicans are worried about the reaction of staunch conservatives. They fear it will harm the party’s ability to win over Latinos in the next presidential election and beyond.

While immigration was generally a muted issue in elections dominated by the Republicans, Obama promised the next day to move ahead on his own to remove the threat of deportation or grant work permits to an unspecified number of immigrants living here illegally.

“The initial reaction from Republicans is going to be very ugly and not well- thought-out, unfortunately,” said Alfonso Aguilar, former chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship in the George W. Bush administration and executive director of Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles.

Aguilar said congressional Republicans must offer a plausible alternative to the president’s plan, especially since the Republican- controlled House has shelved bipartisan immigration legislation. His call echoes those of some of the party’s potential 2016 candidates to reach out to Hispanic voters in some way.

But House Republican aides note that Speaker John Boehner and others have no effective way to tone down comments of members who stridently oppose looser immigration rules. Indeed, many of those members are proud to defy party leaders.

Boehner himself likened Obama’s remarks to playing with matches. “He’s going to burn himself if he continues to go down this path,” Boehner said Thursday, a day after Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell warned the president not to act without congressional approval. Such a move, McConnell said, “poisons the well” for potential bipartisan efforts.

A Congress controlled by the Republicans come January “will defend itself and our citizens from these lawless actions,” said Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions.

Aguilar and others are concerned that conservative firebrands will go further in their rhetoric, perhaps by calling for Obama’s impeachment or for mass deportations — creating a political sweet spot for Democrats not long after the Republican triumph at the polls and exposing a rift inside the party just as it assumes control of both chambers.

“Republicans have a knack for shooting themselves in the foot,” said Carlos Gutierrez, a commerce secretary under Bush who led that administration’s failed effort in 2007 to enact comprehensive immigration changes. “The Republicans can overreact and give the impression that they’re not so much against the concept of executive action but that they’re against immigrants. And that would be a big problem.”

Obama faces enormous pressure to act from Latinos, an important part of the Democratic base. Immigrant advocates, labor leaders and others called on the president Thursday to act boldly, and dared Republicans to stand in his way.

Hispanic voters were an important part of Obama’s support in his presidential campaigns and are seen as a crucial voting bloc in the years to come. A Republican Party “autopsy” of the 2012 election made only one policy recommendation: The Republicans should embrace “comprehensive immigration reform.”

That phrase typically means enhancing border security along with addressing the status of the roughly 11 million immigrants living illegally in the United States.

But many House Republicans, and some senators, owe their elections largely to Republican primary voters who adamantly oppose any form of legalization.

Exit polls of voters in Tuesday’s elections found that while 57 percent of Americans favor offering immigrants living here illegally a chance to apply for legal status, the issue splits along party lines: 78 percent of Democratic voters supported providing a way for immigrants to remain in the country, while 56 percent of Republican voters said they should be deported.

Mitt Romney won just 27 percent of the Latino vote in 2012, the worst performance for a Republican nominee in 16 years. Many Republicans attribute it to his hardline stance on immigration.

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Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed from Washington.

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Follow Charles Babington on Twitter at —https://twitter.com/cbabington and Michael J. Mishak at —https://twitter.com/mjmishak

• Politics & Government
• Political Parties & Movements
• Barack Obama
• John Boehner
• immigration
• Republican

WASHINGTON (AP) — With President Barack Obama vowing to press ahead on immigration, prominent Hispanic Republicans are worried about the reaction of staunch conservatives. They fear it will harm the party’s ability to win over Latinos in the next presidential election and beyond.

While immigration was generally a muted issue in midterm elections dominated by the GOP, Obama promised the next day to move ahead on his own to remove the threat of deportation or grant work permits to an unspecified number of immigrants living here illegally.

“The initial reaction from Republicans is going to be very ugly and not well- thought-out, unfortunately,” said Alfonso Aguilar, former chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship in the George W. Bush administration and executive director of Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles.

Aguilar said congressional Republicans must offer a plausible alternative to the president’s plan, especially since the GOP-controlled House has shelved bipartisan immigration legislation. His call echoes those of some of the party’s potential 2016 candidates to reach out to Hispanic voters in some way.

“Just saying ‘let’s repeal this,’ or ‘let’s not fund it’ — if that’s the only reaction, that’s going to antagonize Hispanics,” Aguilar said.

But House Republican aides note that Speaker John Boehner and others have no effective way to tone down comments of members who stridently oppose looser immigration rules. Indeed, many of those members are proud to defy party leaders.

Boehner himself likened Obama’s remarks to playing with matches. “He’s going to burn himself if he continues to go down this path,” Boehner said Thursday, a day after Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell warned the president not to act without congressional approval. Such a move, McConnell said, “poisons the well” for potential bipartisan efforts.

A Congress controlled by the GOP come January “will defend itself and our citizens from these lawless actions,” said Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, adding “Americans do not want their borders erased.”

Aguilar and others are concerned that conservative firebrands will go further in their rhetoric, perhaps by calling for Obama’s impeachment or for mass deportations — creating a political sweet spot for Democrats not long after the Republican triumph at the polls and exposing a rift inside the GOP just as the party assumes control of both chambers.

“Republicans have a knack for shooting themselves in the foot,” said Carlos Gutierrez, a commerce secretary under Bush who led that administration’s failed effort in 2007 to enact comprehensive immigration changes. “The Republicans can overreact and give the impression that they’re not so much against the concept of executive action but that they’re against immigrants. And that would be a big problem.”

Some possible GOP presidential contenders, including Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, have signaled a desire to tackle an overhaul of the nation’s immigration system next year. Others outside Washington, including Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Rick Perry of Texas, have taken measures to appeal to Hispanics, including passing laws that allow some children of immigrants here illegally to pay in-state tuition at public colleges.

And not all Republicans agree that aggressive opposition to an executive action will yield an electoral disaster. Republican consultant Mike McKenna, who conducts polls and focus groups in several states, said that unless the president’s effort is modest, “he’s going to sink the (Democratic) party for 2016.”

Obama faces enormous pressure to act from Latinos, an important part of the Democratic base. Immigrant advocates, labor leaders and others called on the president Thursday to act boldly, and dared Republicans to stand in his way.

“If they come after him,” said AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka, Democrats will say, “Look, the lunatics are already running the asylum.”

Advocates say the White House is weighing actions that would apply to those who meet a certain term of U.S. residency, perhaps 10 years. Also under consideration is whether to include parents of those who received deportation deferrals under Obama, or only parents of children who are U.S. citizens because they were born here.

Hispanic voters were an important part of Obama’s support in his presidential campaigns and are seen as a crucial voting bloc in the years to come. A Republican Party “autopsy” of the 2012 election made only one policy recommendation: The GOP should embrace “comprehensive immigration reform.”

That phrase typically means enhancing border security along with addressing the status of the roughly 11 million immigrants living illegally in the United States.

But many House Republicans, and some senators, owe their elections largely to GOP primary voters who adamantly oppose any form of legalization.

Exit polls of voters in Tuesday’s midterms found that while 57 percent of Americans favor offering immigrants living here illegally a chance to apply for legal status, the issue splits along party lines: 78 percent of Democratic voters supported providing a way for immigrants to remain in the country, while 56 percent of Republican voters said they should be deported.

Mitt Romney won just 27 percent of the Latino vote in 2012, the worst performance for a GOP nominee in 16 years. Many Republicans attribute it to his hard-line stance on immigration.

Voters “don’t care what you know until they know you really care about them,” said Hector Barreto, who has advised Republican presidential campaigns since 2000. “I don’t see how you go into 2016 and you brag about how great you’re going to be for the Hispanic community and you never did anything on this issue.”

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Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed from Washington.

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Follow Charles Babington on Twitter at —https://twitter.com/cbabington and Michael J. Mishak at —https://twitter.com/mjmishak

• Politics & Government
• Political Parties & Movements
• Barack Obama
• GOP
• John Boehner
• immigration

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s determination to act alone to change the immigration system promptly drove a wedge Wednesday into the post-election commitment from the president and Republican leaders to find common ground under the new political alignment.

Obama defiantly stood by his pledge to act on his own to reduce deportations, grant work permits and improve border security by the end of the year despite resounding election victories by Republicans strongly opposed to his plans. The Senate’s likely majority leader next year, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declared that such a move would amount to “waving a red flag in front of a bull.”

On a day when both sides tried to herald a new era of potential compromise, immigration stood out not only as a single obstacle to bipartisanship but as a sign that the hard-fought election and the heavy Democratic losses had not pushed partisan sparring aside.

“I have no doubt that there will be some Republicans who are angered or frustrated by any executive action that I may take,” Obama said in a post-election news conference. “Those are folks, I just have to say, who are also deeply opposed to immigration reform, in any form, and blocked the House from being able to pass a bipartisan bill.”

He cast his executive actions as an inducement for Republicans to pass their own immigration bill.

“The best way, if folks are serious about getting immigration reform done, is going ahead and passing a bill and getting it to my desk. And then the executive actions that I take go away,” he said.

Republicans led by McConnell pledged to use their newfound majorities to stop him.

“I hope he won’t do that, because I do think it poisons the well for the opportunity to address a very important domestic issue,” McConnell said in Louisville, Kentucky, as he celebrated a victory in his own Senate race and the GOP’s capture of the Senate.

Some on the right said executive action on immigration could even be grounds for impeachment. Several House Republicans said Obama would make it very difficult to cooperate on other issues if he acts on immigration.

“Him moving ahead like that, I think he’s completely tone deaf to what happened last night,” said Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn.

But Obama appeared in no mood for waiting. He had already angered Latinos and immigration advocacy groups this fall when he delayed executive action until after the election.

“What I’m not going to do is just wait,” he said. “I think it’s fair to say I’ve shown a lot of patience.”

Immigration advocates made clear that their patience, too, was at an end.

“The election is over. Act boldly to bring relief to the millions facing deportation and family separation,” Janet Murguia, head of National Council of La Raza, said at a news conference Wednesday. “The Hispanic community has waited too long and expects you to fulfill your promise.”

White House officials say Obama, who is traveling to Asia and Australia next week, would not take any action until late November at the earliest and could wait until December.

Advocates in touch with the White House expect Obama to expand a 2-year-old program that deferred deportations for more than 500,000 immigrants brought here illegally as minors, and made them eligible for work permits. He is also expected to take steps to make more business visas available.

Advocates say White House officials are debating whether to require a certain term of residency in the U.S. — say 10 years — and whether eligibility criteria would include the parents of immigrants who received deportation deferrals under Obama, or only people who have children who are U.S. citizens because they were born here.

Such decisions could determine whether the program affects as many as 3 million people or more, or fewer.

In an interview, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., a leading immigration advocate, said anything fewer than 5 million to 8 million people would be insufficient. He and others argue that Obama’s actions will infuriate Republicans no matter how many are affected.

“Half a loaf is going to be unsatisfactory to everyone,” Gutierrez said.

• Politics & Government
• Immigration Issues
• Barack Obama
• immigration reform

Several months ago, President Obama postponed his promised executive action on immigration reform until after the midterm election. It was a concession to endangered Democratic senators who feared the president’s action would prompt a backlash against them in their states.

The executive action had been widely expected to scale back the deportation of millions of illegal immigrants and their children—including the thousands that recently came from Central America—and possibly offer work permits to people living in the U.S. illegally. The delay of executive action that Obama had promised back in June angered and alienated many Hispanic voters and action.

Related: GOP Wave Election Leaves Obama Friendless in D.C.