Silent Amnesty ?

McCain Does Not Want Silent Amnesty on Immigration



True to his reputation as a maverick, Sen. John McCain is obviously fed up with the jabs he's taking from conservatives on the immigration issue. And he's hitting back - hard.

It's about time. Since the beginning of this debate, McCain has been both correct and courageous. But now he has made it clear that he's not going to be anyone's punching bag.

McCain is correct about the need for comprehensive immigration reform as opposed to what's behind door No. 2: the "faith-based" enforcement-only approach of building walls, hoping illegal immigrants self-deport and calling it a day. Congress did something similar with immigration reform in 1996, and - as Sen. Sam Brownback noted in last week's presidential debate - all we have to show for it is a population of illegal immigrants nearly twice as large now as it was then.

And McCain is courageous for confronting the nativist fringe of his own party, telling voters what they need to hear instead of what they want to hear, and challenging other candidates to either lead or get out of the way. If they don't like the bipartisan Senate compromise that he helped craft, they can suggest something better, McCain tells them - provided that whatever they have in mind can get through Congress.

McCain zeroed in on one of his most vocal critics, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. On immigration, as on other hot-button issues, Romney has held nearly as many positions as there are days in the week. Recently, McCain told the Miami Chamber of Commerce that voters should come down hard on candidates who find it easier to criticize the solutions of others than to offer solutions of their own. While the Arizonan didn't mention Romney by name, the McCain campaign made clear it was Romney the senator was criticizing.

"To want the office so badly that you would intentionally make our country's problems worse might prove you can read a poll or take a cheap shot, but it hardly demonstrates presidential leadership," McCain told the group.

"Pandering for votes on this issue, while offering no solution to the problem, amounts to doing nothing. And doing nothing is silent amnesty."

By Ruben Navarrette Jr., The Salt Lake Tribune
June 11, 2007


Article Excerpt