McCain on Immigration: The Border Is Broken

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Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) appeared on CBS' "The Early Show" today to discuss a recently passed bill in his home state that would make it a crime under state law to be in the U.S. illegally.

"This law is a response to the president's and the administration's failure to secure our borders," McCain told "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith. "The federal government has a responsibility to secure the borders, they have not." (Watch the video at left)

The bill was signed Friday by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer and has since been the subject of heated discussion and debate. Set to take effect in late July or early August, it directs state and local police to question people about their immigration status.

"The border is broken. The cartels are in an existential struggle with the government of Mexico, the violence is at an all time high, and the federal government has a responsibility to secure the borders," said McCain.

McCain was also asked how he would respond to the millions of Hispanic Americans living in Arizona who believed they will be discriminated against under this new bill.

"I do not want any discriminatory behavior, and I've talked to a group of lawmen as short a time ago as Saturday," he replied. "They think they can implement this without racial profiling."

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[armar257]

It seems as if no administration has dealt with the immigration problem sufficiently for more than twenty years. that is the sad part of this scenario. I wonder how the people in this country would feel if there was no cheap labor working in the fields. Non immigrants aren't going to work for the same wage so I guess we will end up paying five bucks for a head of lettuce. I do agree there has to be a way for those coming into the country to obtain citizenship. What happened to that glorified border fence? I guess that didn't work out so well.

[Thad Boyd]

McCain on Immigration: I had to abandon my principles on this issue or I'll lose the primary.

[PyRO_sTEVO]

What is the argument here? every single alien "BROKE THE LAW!" Our Government, past & present, Republican & Democrat, have allowed the invasion of 20 to 30 million criminals and uneducated peons which is the largest invasion of any Nation, at any time, by any means & in direct violation of Article IV, Section IV of our Constitution.

This refusal to abide by our Constitution or enforce our Immigration Laws should be classified as Treason of the most foul kind, & as grounds for impeachment & trials for Treason!

Not only have they allowed the invasion, they force American tax payers to pay Billions on Billions of dollars to provide Welfare, Prison cells, Educate the invaders numerous children, and free medical care, at the same time the invading horde break numerous laws and massive document fraud, & are destroying our schools, hospitals, communities, culture and standard of living while Robbing, Raping, Killing & Assaulting American Citizens WAKE UP PEOPLE!

[Thad Boyd]

Who taught you English, Stan Lee?

Uneducated peons, indeed.

[57ye576]

Anyone who thinks that this bill violates the fourth amendment obviously needs a lesson in constitutional law. The fourth amendment states:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

THIS BILL WOULD ONLY VIOLATE THE FOURTH AMENDMENT IF PEOPLE WERE STOPPED AT "RANDOM" AND ASKED TO PROVE THEIR CITIZENSHIP. THAT'S NOW WHAT ANYONE IS SAYING! THE POLICE CAN ALREADY SEARCH YOU DURING AN ARREST - ALL THAT WOULD HAPPEN IS IF YOUR STATUS AT THE TIME OF ARREST IS QUESTIONABLE, POLICE WOULD BE ALLOWED TO ASK YOU ABOUT IT! THIS MEANS THAT WE CAN SEND ILLEGALS WHO COMMIT OTHER CRIMES BACK TO THEIR OWN COUNTRY INSTEAD OF BOGGING DOWN OUR OWN COURT SYSTEM!

[rdepontb]

Mr. McCain,
You are making an incredibly hypocritical statement here. YOU have been overseeing Arizona politics for decades, have you not? YOU have been its main conduit to Washington and federal resources, have you not? Where have you been on this issue?? How can you stay in the game, sir? How can you face your wife, your children, your neighbors...yourself???

Arizona's border situation is bad, very bad, and the state should not have had to try protecting our entire country along that border. Agreed. That should have been addressed eons ago. Agreed. The present administration has its troops, at your deep and patriotic request, serving all over the globe instead of at home. Agreed.

[57ye576]

You obviously know nothing about what a SENATOR does. McCain does not have the power to pass any legislation. All he can do is VOTE. He may say that he supports legislation. He can even write it. But he can not make it into law by himself.
Here's a list of your questions for McCain. I'll see if I can try to answer some of them.
1) Q:"Where have you been on this issue?" A: Have you been living in a cave? McCain has been trying to hinder illegal immigration this whole time.
2) Q: "How can you stay in the game, sir?" A: What game? Let me start by saying that your question has nothing to do with anything. Please, work on your English skills. Now, if you meant to ask how he intends to deal with this problem now, and in the future, READ THE ARTICLE AGAIN! He's pretty clear about it.
3) Q: How can you face your wife, you children, your neighbors...yourself?" A: With the dignity, knowing that he has at least made an effort to DEAL with the problem of illegal immigration, rather than just pretend like it's not a problem at all.

In the future, please, THINK before you decide to make comments. Thank you. :)

[pr_boxer]

Arizonans provide the jobs that illegals seek, the citizens of Arizona share blame for their own problems.

[Sawyer810]

Do you really think that Arizona is the only destination which Illegals go. Have you been to any of the other States in the Union? Arizona is one of the gateways. Have you witnessed the economy lately? Have you read about the law which forces businesses to pay penalties and potential get shutdown for hiring illegal citizens? This drove many illegals out of AZ and many even returned back to Mexico. Arizona is not the only state in the Union which illegals go, that is just the most STUPID statement I have read. Where are you from? This is a complex problem and if people are serious about solving it then they should. If you don't know all the facts or are unwilling to do a little research then don't make blanket uneducated statements as "Arizona share blame for their own problems". It is a national problem which Arizona happens to feel much of the burden because of the southern border cities. The State and Federal governments have not been willing to step up to the plate and take drastic measures to secure the borders because of the fear of retaliation of differnet support groups, political suicide, etc.

It is not an issue that can be dealt with easily, but if Obama is sercious about it and if he can force feed the country a healthcare plan that is unpopular then I am sure he can do the same with Immigration reform...let me see how that would work..

"Immigration Reform Legislation 2012"
All existing illegal immigrants will immediately recieve amnesty upon completing the United States abridged history exam, answers provided of course.
At the completion of the exam each new citizen will recieve a universal health care card, social security card (with an account equal to the number of months in the United States illegaly multplied by the average index). Each new citizen will be exempt from paying any back unpaid taxes that he/she was in the Unites States illegaly, taking advantage of resources that otherwise law biding working citizens have been contributing. Instead the government will now allow the new citizens to take advantage of the many government funded programs (like Healthcare) that are available with no grace period or penalties.

Yes, Obama Healthcare Reform and Obama Immigration Reform no wonder everyone calls the United States the land of plenty. We are so rich and can afford to give out just about anything to just about anyone with no real expense or cost to the individual or cost to the country it seems. I guess that thing called debt or notion of fiscal responsibility are just imaginery and delusional.

It's time to wake up, really, how much more can this Country sustain? If those of you have issues with this wait until you see what comes next with the Financial Reforms that the government wants to put into effect. That is the U.S Government btw, not Arizona. The government will soon (if they have it their way) have access to your financial activities. So the Government (that's the U.S by the way) will have acces to all of your finanical activites (via Finance Reform) and your Healthcare Information (IRS). How do we rank that with Arizona law requiring individuals to prove citizenship? Isn't that what we do when the Police pull over somebody on a traffic stop.."Drivers license and proof of insurance please".

Asking people to provide another piece of paper to prove citizenship can be worked into the ID registration card process. I would have no problem providing an ID that states that I am a legal resident, where do I sign up. Maybe we make it mandatory for everyone if we are all serious about it.

The illegal immigration problem is everyone's to share and it will continue to be a problem for everyone, not just the state of Arizona.

[pr_boxer]

This bill will NEVER be implemented, you can take that to the bank!

[stormerF2]

Too little too late you RINO,you could have put forth legislation to help secure the border but now your running for re-election,Say anything to get re-elected.

[ajmg111]

TO THE MEDIA - THE BILL REQUIRES THAT THERE BE NO PROFILING....PERIOD Read it if you do not believe it. DUH!

[Thad Boyd]

And police in Arizona would NEVER do anything that would break the law in the name of pursuing illegal immigrants!

[tij12345]

There is NO racial profiling in this law! NO. NONE!

For instance, everyday the police sees a bunch of brown people that look like migrant workers that are at the corner of 7-11 being picked up by the van.
The police will not ask them for papers because there is NO REASONABLE SUSPICION that they are illegal aliens. Being brown and loading a van full of brown people do not make them illegal aliens.

The right way to approach this is the police will have a mexican-migrant-looking undercover police that will hang out with these guys to see what the heck is going on. Now once the undercover police finds out that he is being paid under the table and the others are illegal, then the search for papers will begin.

The police will not walk up to a brown person and search for papers. That will NOT happen. That is a violation of the 4th amendment. If the police does this, then sue their a$$e$$ because they are infringuing on your freedom.

People should be able to walk freely in the streets without being searched for papers. If not, then that is a violation of the 4th amendment.

[Thad Boyd]

"For instance, everyday the police sees a bunch of brown people that look like migrant workers that are at the corner of 7-11 being picked up by the van.
The police will not ask them for papers because there is NO REASONABLE SUSPICION that they are illegal aliens. Being brown and loading a van full of brown people do not make them illegal aliens."

Um, actually, whether the word "brown" is in there or not, that's exactly what the law says. Loading up a van full of people on the corner is exactly the kind of "suspicious behavior" that would, under the new law, not only warrant but DEMAND a search.

"The police will not walk up to a brown person and search for papers. That will NOT happen. That is a violation of the 4th amendment. If the police does this, then sue their a$$e$$ because they are infringuing on your freedom."

No kidding. But that's exactly what's going to happen. Police are going to engage in racial profiling, and they are going to get sued. And who's going to pay? Arizona taxpayers.

Our state government is already looking at having to lay off thousands of teachers, police, and firefighters unless we pass a tax increase. This law will strain our limited funds even further.