McCain vs. Obama on Immigration: Is There A Difference?
(PHOENIX) – Immigration is a hot topic at the National Council of La Raza convention going on this week in San Diego. Both presidential candidates are speaking to the Hispanic advocacy group, and both are laying out their policy prescriptions on illegal immigration.
The trouble is, they are hard to tell apart. Both John McCain and Barack Obama support comprehensive immigration reform, closing the borders first, and a pathway to citizenship for the 12 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S.
The similarities, however, have not stopped the campaigns from attacking each other over the issue.
During his speech yesterday, Obama complimented McCain on his bipartisan work on immigration in the Senate last year. But he also accused him of abandoning immigration reform when he started running for president.
"I don't know about you, but I think it's time for a president who won't walk away from something as important as comprehensive reform just because becomes politically unpopular," Obama said. "And that's the commitment I'm making to you."
The McCain campaign, however, lays the blame for the failed immigration bill on Obama, who voted for amendments to the bill that they claim killed immigration reform.
"At great political peril, he took this issue and tried to bring together all sides to on comprehensive immigration reform," said Rosario Marin, a former U.S. Treasurer and McCain supporter. "It almost happened, but it didn't because of precisely people like Sen. Obama, casting votes that eventually unraveled the immigration package that he had so carefully put together."
McCain will address the National Council of La Raza this afternoon, and he will tell them that he has not turned his back on comprehensive immigration reform, according to excerpts released by the campaign. "When my critics said it would be political suicide for me to do so, I helped author with Sen. Kennedy comprehensive immigration reform, and fought for its passage," McCain will say.
With both candidates basically saying the same things about immigration, it's hard to see what all the fighting's about.