Can the Republican rift over immigration be healed?

Republican Ted Cruz

Warns that Republicans will lose if they become the “party of amnesty” and advocates for tough illegal immigration crackdown.

Republican Jeb Bush

Opposes the mass deportation of illegal immigrants and wants a pathway to legal status for those in the country illegally that includes paying a fine.

Republican Marco Rubio

Wants an option for citizenship for some illegal immigrants who have been in the country for more than 10 years. He also wants to deport those with criminal histories or who haven’t been in the country “very long.”

Democrat Hillary Clinton

Pushes a pathway for citizenship for those in the country illegally and a more “humane” system of enforcement that focuses on people with criminal backgrounds. Pledges to end private detention centers for immigrants.

Democrat Bernie Sanders

Calls U.S. immigration policy “disgraceful” and opposes building of a fence on Mexico’s border with U.S. Wants legislation to bring the illegal immigrants “out of the shadows.”

The Republican presidential field is torn between candidates trying to appeal to the most conservative elements of the GOP and those hopefuls who favor a more moderate approach to broaden the party’s base.

Nowhere was that divide more evident than the divide laid bare at Tuesday's debate over illegal immigration.

The rift over how to handle the more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., including an estimated 400,000 in Georgia, reflects why federal efforts to overhaul immigration laws have long stalled. Both sides cast their stances as central to retaking the White House, and the policy chasm seems difficult - if not impossible - to bridge.

Front-runner Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz staked their claims on the right flank of the debate, arguing that letting the illegal immigrants stay in the U.S. was a dangerous economic policy that could take away jobs from American citizens.

“You don’t get nicer. You don’t get friendlier,” said Trump, who proposed building a wall along the Mexican border and the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. “We have no choice. We have no choice.”

And Cruz, the son of a Cuban immigrant, said “Democrats are laughing - because if Republicans join Democrats as the party of amnesty we will lose.”

They were fiercely rebuked by the party’s establishment figures, who argued a more welcoming GOP is crucial to the party’s future.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said the notion of shipping the elderly and young children across the border was a “silly argument” grounded in fantasy. And former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Republicans underestimates the nation’s changing demographics at their own peril.

“They’re doing high-fives in the Clinton campaign right now when they hear this,” Bush said, invoking Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who managed to sidestep the question Tuesday, has tried to straddle the divide.

“If you haven’t been here very long, or you’re a criminal, you will be deported,” the Cuban-American told NPR on Wednesday. Otherwise, he said, he’s open to allowing those in the country illegally a pathway to citizenship if they pass a background check, learn English, pay a fine and stay on a work permit for 10 years.

It mirrors a long-running debate within the GOP about the party's struggles capturing Latino support. President Barack Obama won reelection in 2012 with 71 percent of the Hispanic vote, and some party leaders have since argued a more moderate approach to immigration issues.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton tried to seize on the Republican fault line on Wednesday, tweeting that Trump's plan for a "deportation force" to track and oust illegal immigrants is "absurd, inhumane and un-American." Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, her most serious Democratic challenger, wants to shield 4 million illegal immigrants who have children in the U.S. from being deported.

The immigration debate remains polarizing to Republican primary voters, who are more conservative than the overall electorate. That has pushed candidates in places like Georgia, where Hispanics made up less than 2 percent of voters last year, further to the right on immigration issues.

That tilt is evident in the immigration crackdown that Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law in 2011 and expanded in 2013. Those measures created new requirements for many Georgia businesses to ensure new hires are eligible to work in the United States and empowers police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects.

Supporters of Trump praise his approach to illegal immigration as a sign he’s willing to speak openly about an issue that few other presidential candidates would dare approach.

"At least Trump had the courage to say out loud that illegal immigrants commit crimes - hell, it's true," said Chris Knowles, a 51-year-old software developer from Holly Springs, referring to Trump's comments describing some illegal immigrants as rapists and drug dealers. "It is about time someone started treading on the sacred cows of the Republican party."

Then there are the Republicans who insist the party's future depends on a big-tent approach. They point to the rising number of Hispanic voters - Latinos made up 10 percent of the national electorate in 2012 - amid a steady climb of the overall minority population.

Eric Tanenblatt, a Republican operative in Atlanta and Bush supporter, warned this week that the GOP suffered from an “ostrich syndrome” because it’s ignoring non-white voters who will decide the fate of Georgia’s political future. State Rep. Joe Wilkinson, another Bush supporter, cast it as an imperative.

“I share the frustrations about illegal immigration. But I think Gov. Bush has a plan that is fair and that keeps with the history of our country,” said the Sandy Springs Republican. “I don’t think there’s any question that the party needs to broaden its base. It’s not compromising - it’s doing what I believe is right.”