McCain still has immigration on his future agenda

Arizona Sen. John McCain has not given up on the idea of comprehensive immigration reform, despite criticism he received for trying to help push forward President Bush's plan to deal with our nation's immigration problems.
 
In fact, the GOP's presumed presidential candidate said Monday that as president he would again take up the effort in Washington with the goal of combining border security with programs for temporary foreign workers and establishing tamper proof identification so employees would know workers were legal.
 
It is a little surprising that McCain is willing to step back into the buzz saw of the immigration debate, especially since his more moderate position on the issue in the past has been very unpopular with members of his own party.
 
His Monday foray into the border battle was nevertheless welcome. It is an issue that needs to be debated by the presidential candidates in the upcoming election. It is an issue that is as important to the nation as the war in the Middle East, gas prices, civil liberties, health care and the economy.
 
In fact, immigration is a key part of any discussion on the economy because foreign workers, both legal and illegal, are a key component of the country's economic climate. The need for workers from outside the nation is likely to increase as the "bubble" of the baby boom generation passes into retirement and there are fewer available American workers to replace them.
 
We were pleased to see that McCain continues to believe, as we do, that immigration and border security are federal issues and not state issues. He said it was the federal government's failure to properly deal with comprehensive immigration reform that has encouraged some states - especially Arizona - to intrude into this federal sphere.
 
"It saddens me to see these conflicting approaches toward the issue of illegal immigration because we would not have this problem if the federal government had carried out its responsibilities," he said.
 
What he did not say was that there are some who really do not want comprehensive immigration reform and broader legal opportunities for foreign workers. The will do what they can to defeat federal efforts which they feel will "water down" actions against illegal immigration.
 
That is the hurdle that will have to be jumped if the next president, whoever it may be, wants the federal government to again assume its immigration responsibilities, as it should.