Immigration Hang-Up?

It's no secret that the elites of the Republican Party -- I use the e-word in a non-pejorative sense -- disagree with most of the rank-and-file on the question of what to do about illegal immigration. Here's one view (California-focused) typical of the elite side. Peter Robinson argues that Hispanics, the largest group of immigrants, are "natural" Republicans in their values and economic ambitions. He also claims, based on Hispanics' generally favorable opinion of a ballot measure against bilingual education, that they believe in assimilation as full-fledged, English-speaking Americans. He implies that they have been driven away by the party's hard-liners who would never, never give any illegal immigrant an eventual "path to citizenship." I'm interested in hearing arguments for the other side: That is, how the GOP could become a majority party in California without accepting the "path to citizenship" idea. I'm even more interested in hearing thoughts on how the elites and grass-roots of the party might settle their differences and win elections.