The reviews continue to pour in about last week’s Republican presidential primary debate and the consensus is clear – the GOP’s continued mishandling of the immigration issue threatens their chances in the general election, especially with respect to reaching the 40% threshold with Latino voters.  Among the new reactions to the debate and other developments from over the weekend:

The “Border-First” Non-Answer Doesn’t Convince Anyone:  In a hard-hitting editorial criticizing the GOP field on immigration, The Washington Post noted, “If a majority of the GOP aspirants agreed on anything, it was that nothing meaningful can be done about the nation’s dysfunctional immigration system and the presence of 11 million undocumented immigrants until the southern border is “secure.” And as Texas Gov. Rick Perry asserted, “It is not safe on that border.” That sounds very grave. There’s just one problem: The border today is more secure than it has been in years…In truth, then, the real message on immigration from most of the candidates is this: We can’t fix the broken system, or deal with illegal immigrants until, well, ever. Because even if we understand that 11 million people cannot be deported and must be granted some form of amnesty — the dreaded word! — our conservative base will punish us if we admit it, let alone undertake it.”  This answer also fails to convince Latino voters – June 2011 polling from Latino Decisions and impreMedia found that by a 55% - 30% margin, Latino voters said GOP candidates use the “border first” answer to “block action” on immigration reform instead of representing a “legitimate concern.”