But Sylvia Haro, chair of the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly, said when it comes to immigration, Romney's views "definitely don't go along with Hispanics."

When asked if she'd vote for Romney if he were the GOP nominee next November, Haro replied: "That would put me in a really hard position. I'm very much a Republican. At the same time I look at the candidate."

Rev. Cortes' remarks to the Deseret Morning News came after a national telephone conference in which he was among members of Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform who are concerned about what they see as a hateful tone to the immigration debate.

He pointed to a Pew Hispanic poll of 843 Hispanic registered voters taken from Oct. 3 to Nov. 9. In the poll, Romney placed last among Hispanic GOP voters, with only 4 percent of the vote. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was first with 35 percent.

"People know that we've become the bogeymen," Rev. Cortes said. "But if you look at it, the fire is being flamed and is being stoked by Mitt Romney."

However, the Pew poll shows that while Hispanics could be a major factor in some states such as New Mexico, where 37 percent of eligible voters are Hispanic, it's unclear how much of a factor Republican immigration politics will play.

The poll found a majority of Hispanics are Democrats, and while 79 percent of Hispanic voters view immigration as "extremely" or "very important," the issue still ranks behind education, health care, the economy and crime. And not all Hispanics agree with Rev. Cortes. A separate Pew poll found that while Hispanics are more likely than non-Hispanics to disapprove of specific enforcement measures, nearly 33 percent of U.S.-born Hispanics agreed with work-site enforcement.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com