Immigration Politics: GOP rejects illegal immigration hard-liner Rep. Steve King as panel chairman

GOP rejects illegal immigration hard-liner Rep. Steve King as panel chairman: "In a surprise move, the House Judiciary Committee's most prominent voice against illegal immigration was passed over Friday in his quest to lead the committee's immigration subpanel.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) announced that Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) would head the immigration subcommittee, a move that came barely 24 hours after Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) had introduced a bill that sought to prevent children of undocumented immigrants from becoming citizens.

Yet the move may indicate fault lines within the Republican Party on immigration, with many rank-and-file conservatives embracing King's tough rhetoric against undocumented immigrants and their children but the party leadership perhaps preferring a leader with a quieter voice and a lower profile. Some within the GOP have warned that shrillness on the subject can be painted by opponents as an anti-Latino bias." Jan. 7, 2011, Washington Post